Everlasting Hero: The Rise of the Titans
by SharkAttack719
Summary: Sequel to "The Golden Blade." Percy, who has adopted the surname Jackson, has managed to survive for thousands of years past the times of the Roman Empire. After struggling conflicts, he makes his peace with the Romans. However, now, a threat is nearing the horizon, something he has never faced before, something ten times worse than the Romans: the Titans. "ON HIATUS"
1. Prologue

**What is up? This is the PJO timeline story that I am making! Yay! I'm actually writing this the night before except at like four in the morning, so I'm dead tired. (I woke up at 6 yesterday, so that's nearly twenty-four hours.) Anyways, most of this is related to that chapter in the Last Olympian where Nico finds out about his mother's death except for the fact that Percy was actually there. Remind you this is the prologue, just because I'm too lazy to write the first chapter right away, so it is pretty short.**

**In any case, I hope you enjoy this prologue and I hope you are looking forward to this rest of this story.**

**Thanks,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Prologue**

"Percy!" Bianca screamed as she zipped around the marble column. "Help! Nico's attacking me!"

"RAWR!" growled the young boy, Nico. "I'm going to eat you, Bianca!"

Percy laughed as the two young children ran around the lobby of the Hotel D'Louvre. It was an elegant hotel located in Washington D.C., the capital of the United States. It was the year 1945, and World War II had recently ended. Even though he was a son of Poseidon himself, Percy still enjoyed the company of the young children of any god or goddess.

He was doing his best to keep happy in the best interests of the young children. They were oblivious to the dangerous world they were living in, and having them know at such a young age would be terrifying for them.

Bianca and Nico di Angelo were the two children of Hades and a mortal woman named Maria di Angelo. Twelve years ago was the birth of the couple's first child. Ten years ago, the second child was born. Bianca di Angelo was born in 1933 and was twelve years old. Nico di Angelo was born in 1935 and was ten years old.

On the sofa in the lounge, Maria di Angelo sat wearing a black dress, gloves, and a black veiled hat. She had Bianca's smile and Nico's eyes. In a chair next to her sat a large, oily man in a dark pinstripe suit. They were both arguing over the safety of their two children.

Percy himself was just wearing loose dress pants, a dress shirt with the top button undone, a loose necktie, and an American army jacket. It was nothing special as he needed to be able to be quick and agile just in case of any danger.

"Tackle her, Nico!" Percy urged, making the twelve-year-old girl shriek in protest.

Nico laughed evilly as he poured on the speed. He jumped sending the two of them sprawling across the carpet.

Percy remembered when _he_ was twelve, when _he_ was a young kid. It wasn't a pleasant memory.

"I'm going to get you back for that, Nico," Bianca growled brushing her hair out of her face. With a squeal, the ten-year-old boy ran away. Bianca got up and chased after him.

Percy grinned at the two, but tuned in to hear what Hades and Maria were discussing. Being a friend of both, they trusted him dearly with private information.

"Please, my dear," Hades said in English, a language Percy had recently mastered.. "You _must_ come to the Underworld. I don't care what Persephone thinks! I can keep you safe there."

"No, my love." She spoke with an Italian accent. "Raise our children in the land of the dead? I will not do this."

"Maria, listen to me. The war in Europe has turned the other gods against me. A prophecy has been made. My children are no longer safe. Poseidon and Zeus have forced me into an agreement. None of us are to have demigod children ever again."

"But you already _have_ Nico and Bianca. Surely—"

"No! The prophecy warns of a child who turns sixteen. Zeus has decreed that the children I currently have must be turned over to Camp Half-Blood for _proper training_, but I know what he means. At best they'll be watched, imprisoned, turned against their father. Even more likely, he will not take a chance. He won't allow my demigod children to reach sixteen. He'll find a way to destroy them, and I won't risk that!"

"It's true, Maria," Percy added. "Zeus was even wary of me. _Me_, one past sixteen and immortal. He's also uncertain of Winston, my half-brother. He is paranoid enough to do it."

"_Che sciocchezza!_" Maria exclaimed. "We will stay together. Zeus is _un imbecile_."

"You have great courage to say that," he muttered darkly.

Hades glanced nervously at the ceiling. "Maria, please. I told you, Zeus gave me a deadline of _last week_ to turn over the children. His wrath will be horrible, and I cannot hide you forever. As long as you are with the children, you are in danger too."

Maria smiled, her image replicating that of Bianca's, who was just then madly chasing Nico around the marble columns. "You are a god, my love. You will protect us. But I will not take Nico and Bianca to the Underworld."

Hades wrung his hands. "Then, there is another option. I know a place in the desert where time stands still. I could send the children there, just for a while, for their own safety, and we could be together. I will build you a golden palace by the Styx."

Maria di Angelo laughed gently. "You are a kind man, my love. A generous man. The other gods should see you as Percy and I do, and they would not fear you so. But Nico and Bianca need their mother. Besides, they are only children. The gods wouldn't really hurt them."

A shiver went down Percy's spine as she said this. A sense of doom entered him.

"You don't know my family," Hades said darkly. "Please, Maria, I can't lose you."

She touched his lips with her fingers, and right there and then, the hair of Percy's neck stood on end. "Hades! Hades!"

But the god was too busy dealing with Maria that he didn't notice. "You will not lose me. Wait for me while I get my purse. Watch the children."

Percy burst towards the kids as Maria di Angelo kissed the lord of the dead and rose from the sofa.

"Percy?" asked Hades, his eyes widening.

Then the feeling of electricity came to his skin. He was too late. There was no stopping Zeus now. Bianca and Nico suddenly stopped laughing as if they sensed it too. Hades realized just a split second later.

"No!" Hades said. But even his godly powers were too slow. He only had time to erect a wall of black energy around Percy and the children before the hotel exploded.

The force was so violent that it nearly threw Percy head-over-heels. The kids screamed with the blast, and he held onto them as tightly as he could.

When the dust and debris cleared, the black wall of energy dissolved, and in the ruins of what used to be the Hotel D'Louvre, Hades held the broken form of Maria di Angelo.

Fires still burned all around them. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rumbled.

"Mama?" Bianca asked, her eyes wide with incomprehension. Nico looked even worse than she did. They both looked at her as if it were a dream. Like it wasn't real.

Percy could hear the flapping wings of the Fury Alecto behind him, but he kept the children's attention forward on their dead mother. Breathing deeply, he soaked in what would be just one of the millions of deaths that he'd seen in his lifetime.

"Zeus!" Hades shook his fist at the sky. "I will crush you for this! I will bring her back!"

"My lord, you cannot," Alecto warned. "You of all immortals must respect the laws of death."

Hades glowed with rage. For a second, Percy thought that he would show his true form and vaporize his own children, but at the last moment he seemed to regain control.

"Take them," he told Alecto, choking back a sob. "Wash their memories clean in the Lethe and bring them to the Lotus Hotel. Zeus will not harm them there."

"Hades!" Percy started.

He was cut off by Alecto. "As you wish, my lord. And the woman's body?"

"Take her as well," he said bitterly. "Give her the ancient rites."

Alecto, the children, and Maria's body dissolved into the shadows, leaving him and Hades alone in the ruins. The god stood up stonily and turned to the son of Poseidon.

"I warned you," came a voice from behind Percy.

Hades looked forward, and Percy turned around. A girl in a multicolored dress stood by the smoldering remains of the sofa. She had short black hair and sad eyes. She was no more than twelve.

"The Oracle of Delphi," he muttered.

"You dare come here?" Hades growled. "I should blast you to dust!"

"You cannot," the girl sad. "The power of Delphi protects me."

"You've killed the woman I loved!" Hades roared. "Your prophecy brought us to this."

He loomed over the girl, but she didn't flinch.

"Zeus ordained the explosion to destroy the children," she said, "because you defied his will. I had nothing to do with it. And the son of Poseidon and I _did_ warn you to hide them sooner."

"I couldn't! Maria would not let me! Besides, they were innocent."

"Nevertheless, they are your children, which makes them dangerous. Even if you put them away in the Lotus Hotel, you only delay the problem. Nico and Bianca will never be able to rejoin the world lest they turn sixteen."

"Because of your so-called Great Prophecy. And you have forced me into an oath to have no other children. You have left me with nothing!"

"I foresee the future," the girl said. "I cannot change it."

Black fire lit the god's eyes, and Percy knew something bad was coming. He put a tight hand on Hades' shoulder. "Don't act rashly."

Angrily, he shoved his hand off of his shoulder and growled, "Then, Oracle, hear the words of Hades. Perhaps I cannot bring back Maria. Nor can I bring yon an early death. But your soul is still mortal, and I _can_ curse you."

The girl's eyes widened. "You would not—"

"I swear," Hades said, "as long as my children remain outcasts, as long as I labor under the curse of your Great Prophecy, the Oracle of Delphi will never have another mortal host. You will never rest in peace. No other will take your place. Your body will wither and die, and still the Oracle's spirit will be locked inside you. You will speak your bitter prophecies until you crumble to nothing. The Oracle will die with you!"

The girl screamed, and Percy had to cover his ears. Waving his hand, the girl disappeared from the site, her screams echoing in the sky.

Percy looked on astonished. "What did you just do?"

Hades turned to the son of Poseidon and said firmly, "Perseus Jackson. Promise me that when the time comes, you will abandon your post at Camp Half-Blood to help my children to train to become the best warriors the world has ever known. Promise me that you will help me kill Zeus' son or daughter when they are born because I know my brother and he _will_ break his oath. Promise me that, will you?"

"I can't abandon Chiron!" he exclaimed. "And... and killing to get revenge is not the best path to take."

"Maybe not for mortals, but it will hurt Zeus the way it hurt me when Maria died!" roared the lord of the dead. "Fine. If you won't promise that, at least promise me one thing. Promise that you will train Bianca and Nico to fight. Promise me that _you_ will instruct them and _you_ only."

"What about a very close friend?"

"Zoë is fine." Desperation crept into Hades' voice. "Please promise me that."

Looking at the god with a masked face of indifference, he sighed. "I swear by the River Styx that I, Perseus Jackson, immortal son of Poseidon, will train Nico and Bianca di Angelo with the help of Artemis and her Hunters."

Thunder grumbled in the sky, different that of Zeus' lightning strike.

"Thank you, Percy. I promise to you that I will make this grand favor up to you. I owe you now, demigod. Remember that."

And with that, the lord of the dead vanished in a blur of shadows.

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**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**I apologize for any grammatical errors in the chapter above and if any historical facts are actually wrong. I have spent my time looking through different websites, and even a couple of books, but the story that will continue may have incorrect historical info. Still, I believe it just adds to the effect.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	2. The Great Pine Tree

**Happy House of Hades day!**

**House of Hades is out! Can you believe it? Only problem is that I can't read it until, at the earliest, this weekend. At latest...well, Christmas. I am eagerly waiting to read this book, so don't spoil ANYTHING for me. I beg you guys. Thanks so much.**

**This chapter is kind of short, but for the content that it holds, I think that it is a suitable length. Hope you guys enjoy it. I'm not going to rant on about anything, but here you go. I purposely stopped doing my essay just to post this for you guys, so I may not update for about a week. It's short, but I wanted to update on House of Hades day.**

**Thanks,  
SharkAttack719**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Percy gave his old mentor a dark, stern look.

"You _have_ to swear to the Styx that you will not reveal to the gods about Nico and Bianca until they find out themselves. I know that urge has been prodding you for the past few years."

"Yes, Percy." The old centaur sighed and put his glass of water on the table in front of him. "I understand."

"Good."

Many years had passed since Maria di Angelo's death, and it had haunted Percy ever since it had happened. Bianca squeaking "Mama?" had put him over the edge. It was as if he were watching a horror movie. In fact, his whole life would be a horror movie. Too bad he only recorded down the history of those around him.

He pretended to be Homer, the Greek poet who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. He tutored Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and Plutarch. He led the barbarian revolts that sacked the city of Rome. He led and fought some of the greatest and worst known men and women to ever live: Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, Anne Bonny, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, General William Tecumseh Sherman, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, George Washington, Jefferson Davis and more.

The one major thematic area of his life was death. Death played a major role in his life, whether it was innocent people or legions of men fighting in battle.

He was there when the bombs were let loose on London. He was there when Atlanta was burned to the ground. He was there when Napoleon showed up to an empty Moscow.

Sure, the night was already dark and boring, but something about this night made him jumpy. He was always jumpy, but this was something different. His ADHD was acting up. The sense of doom he had felt with Maria returned to him and settled in his bones. It gave him chills.

World War II had ended reluctantly but peacefully as Percy's father and Zeus ordered Hades to swear to a pact. They would not have any more children because of a Great Prophecy that was ordained. It warned of a child of the Big Three that turned sixteen. He or she would decide the fate of Olympus. To raze it or to preserve it.

Percy was safe because he had already passed sixteen years of age, and even the gods weren't stupid enough to strip him of his immortality. It would make much more sense for them to kill him.

However, because of that bone-chilling prophecy, Maria di Angelo was killed and her two children were sent to the Lotus Hotel and Casino where time inside travelled a lot slower than time on the outside. At the same time, the Oracle of Delphi, the girl who held the spirit, had been cursed by the lord of the dead. She would utter prophecies until her body crumbled to dust. She now sat eerily on a stool as a mummy in the attic of the Big House of Camp Half-Blood.

Percy sighed. Camp Half-Blood. That name seemed to spread warmth throughout his entire body. There were so many friends and family that he had made over the years in Camp Half-Blood that it was nearly uncountable.

"You promised Hades that you would train him, and since you are here, I believe it is my duty to teach him as well," said Chiron. "It would only be fair. As a mentor, I must lead students as much as you have."

"Of course," he replied. "You're the greatest mentor anyone will ever encounter. You did teach me, didn't you?"

"Yes, yes."

At the moment, Chiron was in his wheelchair form. That basically meant that he compacted his horse half into a magical box that resembled a modern wheelchair. It worked really well as when he went into public, most thought of him as just a disabled man.

"Now, onto more... _pressing_ matters."

Percy nodded knowing that the topic was inevitable to pop up. "Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. You believe she could be the one for the prophecy, don't you? Not Nico or Bianca but Thalia."

"There is a great possibility that she will become the heroine of the prophecy," Chiron said grimly. "As much as it is painful to know another demigod child will die young, it is the fate that is ordained to her. Hades knows that even Thalia is more capable than Bianca _or_ Nico. It would have been foolish of him to just throw the two of his children out in public eye. He cannot change anything now."

"Or can he?" questioned Percy. "Chiron. As much as I know you _want_ to believe things, the world is still cruel. Hades will want to do anything to make Bianca the prophecy child. And if she dies, Nico will avenge her. The thing that all of the Olympians, my father included, forget about Hades is that he is smart. He knows it is foolish to send his kids out now, like you said; however, he is waiting for the perfect time. When there is a chance for Bianca or Nico to get on the good side of the Olympians, Hades will take it. I have spoken to him. He _will_ kill Thalia if he gets the chance."

"And that is why Grover was ordered to not to stop for anything," Chiron insisted. "If Thalia gets within the premises of Camp Half-Blood, she will be safe from any harm."

"What would you do then, Chiron? Lock her up in Camp Half-Blood. She'll be sick of it after a couple of days."

"It is Zeus against Hades. We have seen them battle before. Zeus holds the upper hand. Zeus holds the upper hand against any other god."

"But my father and Hades will understand. Poseidon may not like that Nico and Bianca are returning, but he has a far better sense of family than Zeus. He and Hades both know what it is like to love."

"Taking precautions, Percy. You know that I mean no harm to Nico or Bianca. I just think that at twelve years of age, she should not be sacrificing her life for the sake of the gods."

"And I shouldn't have gone on a quest that could've, would've and should've killed me when I was ten. You allowed me to go anyways."

"Percy, that was back when—"

"It doesn't matter! What I'm trying to say is that I will work both sides. Children of Zeus haven't always been good to me, but Thalia seems like an alright girl. She's brave, courageous and powerful. Probably the most powerful demigod of this generation. Let her do what she wants. I swear to the Styx that I will try my best to revive her, though there is only so much I can do."

Thunder rumbled in the sky.

"Percy—"

"I'm sorry, Chiron, but my mind is set. Zeus will want his daughter alive as well, so her soul will be preserved. Why do you think every heroic son of Zeus in history has been offered godhood?"

Thunder grumbled in the distance. Both of them turned to look out of the window. Storm clouds were moving in, lightning flashing in between the clouds. Percy stood up from his spot and grimly turned back to Chiron.

"It looks as though this is our time."

"Do what you must, Percy. Stubbornness may save us all, yet it may cause our doom."

"It's a risk I am willing to take."

The son of Poseidon pulled up his hood and ran outside. He snatched his quiver from the shoe rack and summoned his bow. His camouflage pants seemed to ripple as he ran, and his sea green eyes gleamed in the dark night.

Just as he thought, a half mile away, three half-bloods and a satyr were fighting a large horde of monsters from the Underworld. He could hear shouting, roaring and the crackling of lightning. The bolt of electricity arced out of the sky and struck a couple of the hellhounds hounding the little blonde-haired girl.

The storm wasn't heavy, so he could hear the three demigods shouting quite clearly in the dark.

"Leave me!" shouted Thalia. "I'll hold them off!"

"No!" screamed the blonde-haired boy, Luke. "We're not leaving you here to die!"

An enormous roar erupted from the side where Luke was fighting. He leaped to the side and yelled, "Annabeth! Watch out!"

The little daughter of Athena ran as a looming figure appeared in Percy's vision. His eyes darkened when he saw the creature. It was the Minotaur, the creature Theseus had killed long ago. Its beady black eyes bared down on Annabeth as she ran. It charged toward her, but it ended up barreling past her into the tall grass.

"Thalia!" shouted the satyr. "You're the priority! Get to camp! Luke will cover Annabeth!"

"There's no way he can cover her," she screamed back shakily. "There's too many of them!"

Just as she said that, a hellhound slammed into her with its shoulder sending her flying to the nearest tree. She smashed into it hard and slid down grabbing her head. Right as the hellhound was about to pounce on her, Percy let the arrow fly. He was a quarter mile away from them, but the arrow found its mark, or at least some part of its mark. He was aiming for the head, but it looked like the arrow hit its back.

Nevertheless, the hellhound exploded into golden dust.

"Perrrrcyy!" bleated Grover, the satyr. "Help!"

The three demigods and the satyr were pushed back down the hill and into the valley. Slowly, they gave way, the monsters too overwhelming for them.

Thalia looked shaken up, Annabeth had a deep gash on her sword arm, err, knife arm, and Luke looked dead tired. Grover was trying to the pelt the monsters with sticks and stones, but it wasn't really doing anything. Pouring on a burst of speed, Percy tried get as close to them as possible. He just needed the three of them to hold on for just a little bit longer. He would be there in just five seconds.

That plan failed almost immediately. Something hit Luke in the face hard, and he went tumbling to the ground. Annabeth, yelping, went to help the son of Hermes. Grover was swiped to the side _hard_ by another hellhound sending him into a tree and knocking him unconscious. With a weary battle cry, Thalia forced her way to the top of the hill to fight all of the monsters. And to put the icing on the cake, the Minotaur reappeared and nearly turned Percy into a Percy-ke-bob.

Leaping and using the beasts head as a springboard, he launched himself onto the Minotaur's shoulders. Putting his bow away, he took the hair clip from his head and stabbed Anaklusmos into the back of the beast's head. With a moaning wail, it dissolved into sand that was carried away by the wind.

It was too late for Thalia, though. Her piercing cry resonated in the night sky as she became overwhelmed. Lightning flashed in the sky angrily as Thalia Grace died.

But no. Suddenly, where Thalia used to be surrounded by monsters, a pine tree began growing. Luke and Annabeth both cried in great grief as they saw their friend get turned into a tree. Percy watched amazed as Zeus' magic saved and preserved the soul of the daughter of Zeus. Despite his guess from earlier, he was still shocked that Zeus actually had the nerve to do that.

Then, the hellhounds from around Thalia were pushed towards the road as if an invisible force field grew around the camp. Percy tapped Aegis and rushed the confused hounds. Before any of them knew what was happening, they were sent back to Tartarus where they belonged.

"Thalia!" sobbed Annabeth. "Thalia!"

Luke was breathing heavily. He gave the tree that same uncomprehending look that Nico and Bianca had given their mother when she laid dead in Hades' arms. Percy could see tears in the corners of his eyes, but the son of Hermes was doing his best to calm himself down. There was also a noticeable bump on his forehead, presumably a spot where he had gotten hit.

The son of Poseidon walked over to the two, and in a hushed tone, said, "Come on, guys. We have to get to the Big House. Come on."

The two wouldn't budge, but Percy could already see Ethan Nakamura and four sons of Hermes coming out to see what had happened. It was evident that Thalia's cry had woken the entire camp up.

"Percy!" cried Ethan. "What... what happened?"

He shook his head grimly. "Nothing important for you. Help me with these two. Oh, and someone get Grover! He's over there with his head bumped on a tree."

"Thalia!" Annabeth wailed. Tears dripped down her face like a waterfall. It seemed as though it was only now that she realized her mistake in dropping to help Luke. The monsters made quick progress of the exhausted daughter of Zeus. She had stood no chance.

Percy knew no matter what he did, he would not be able to change fate. Thalia would be hunted down one way or another. As much as he wanted to help, there was only so much he could do. One day, the Fates ordained for his own death. It was inevitable.

Just like with Maria, just like with many of the heroes he trained, they all had death set upon them. It seemed as though he was the only one that could escape the ill-fated death. That wasn't a good thing.

Pain, sorrow, misery... everything that Pandora had unleashed _against_ the human race. He experienced a lot just a few millennia.

"Luke, come on," he grunted, trying to help the son of Hermes up.

That seemed to shake Luke out of his shock. Immediately, his face twisted in anger and boiling resentment, and he resisted. "NO! Let go of me!"

"Luke, please—"

"No! Let me go!"

Percy grit his teeth as he yanked the twelve year old boy off of his feet. Grabbing the son of Hermes in a headlock, he pulled him towards the Big House.

"Let me go!" Luke thrashed about, struggling to shake free of the strong demigod's grasp. "Thalia's dead! Let me go!"

Percy could sense the tears in the boy's eyes and pitied him. But without a word, he dragged Luke closer to the Big House, Luke screaming and kicking. Ethan and one of the sons of Hermes quietly told Annabeth to follow Percy and Luke, and smartly, she obeyed. She too was crying; however, her sobs were muffled in Ethan's jacket's sleeve.

The other three sons of Hermes helped Grover, taking his unconscious body back to the infirmary just as Annabeth and Luke reached there. By then, Luke had slipped into unconsciousness from his exhaustion and grief, so Percy laid him gently on one of the infirmary beds. Annabeth fell asleep as well, and Ethan put on her on the bed next to Luke.

When the three of them were safely tucked in, Ethan turned to Percy and demanded, "What happened? Why were they moaning 'Thalia?'"

The other four sons of Hermes gave him inquisitive looks.

Darkly, he muttered, "Thalia, daughter of Zeus, died on that hill tonight."

Ethan's eyes widened. "Daughter of Zeus? But the prophecy!"

"And that was why Chiron wanted her to get here so quickly. She's gone, for now. It will take me some time, but I may be able to revive her."

"So, we're safe for a little while? From the end of the world?"

"Not long enough, I'm afraid, Ethan."

Ethan gulped nervously and turned to his friends. They looked just as skittish as he did.

"Come on, you five," Percy said at last. "Get some rest and don't dwell on the situation."

"Right," Ethan muttered. "Of course. See you tomorrow, Percy."

And solemnly, the five of them left the infirmary with no doubts of a large crowd waiting for them to arrive to tell them of the news.

Looking down at Annabeth and Luke, he saw dry tears on their faces. He remembered their outcries to Thalia, the disabled daughter of Zeus, and their grief. He remembered Luke's anger and Annabeth's remorse. A sad thing this was. Percy knew how close they had been. But he was sure good would come out of this. He was sure that he was making the right decisions.

In contrast, a part of his brain, the smallest part of his logical side, told him that there was a bigger picture to this. He had a nagging feeling that what he would bring was terror and death. He had a feeling that he was missing a vital part of what was to come.

A rush of cold air passed by him, and for a second he felt useless, hopeless, and utterly worthless. He felt as though there was nothing good that could come out of life. The most important thing was that he felt time stop. Frozen, like ice.

But that feeling was gone as quickly as it had come.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	3. Truth Be Told

**There is drama in the House of Hades and I can confirm it. Send my a private message if you don't mind spoilers. If you care about spoilers, then don't ask me. That was the only reason why I created this chapter. I just found out some serious shenanigans about a certain character in the fourth book. I've confirmed that it is actually true. If you've read the book, try and guess what happened. Anyways, thanks to all for reading, though I'm sure most of you guys reviewed in the first chapter.**

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**Chapter 2**

For days, Luke Castellan locked himself in his cabin mourning his friend's death. He spoke to no one, and when Annabeth was there, he only made a few mutterings. He angrily shut himself off whenever Chiron tried to help, and ran away from Percy. His eyes were red all the time from anger and great sadness.

"You have to help him," Annabeth begged a week after they came to camp. "Please, Percy?"

The daughter of Athena gave him big and cute eyes to stare into. Despite their swirling grey tone, they looked cute. He had already told her that they were related through Athena, and she spent nearly every moment of every day around him. Normally, he would wish someone could get rid of her, but she was so darn cute.

"Annabeth," he said patiently. "Luke doesn't want to talk. You have to give him personal space. It's a matter of time before he lets himself loose again. Trust me, Annabeth. I know how to deal with these kinds of things."

Truth be told, he had no clue how to converse with people. All of his life was training and having fun. He played games, sure, but he didn't know _people_. It was possible to call him a son of Hades or son of Hephaestus.

Sighing deeply, he turned away.

The disappointed daughter of Athena looked down, turned, and ran away to join her siblings. Closing his eyes briefly, he made his way to the Big House. He hoped Chiron and Mr. D were on the porch.

Who is Mr. D? Well... you'll find out.

"Another pinochle game!" cried the chubby man as the centaur won another game of pinochle. It wasn't that interesting of a game, but Chiron and Mr. D seemed to like it a lot.

"Another pinochle game, Mr. D," Chiron said calmly. It _was_, after all, a common occurrence that the centaur would beat the god at the game.

Both of them noticing Percy approaching, they turned and greeted him warmly. Mr. D grinned with his big pouty mouth and said, "Perseus Jackson! The only demigod I look forward to seeing every day!"

"Dionysus! The only god that doesn't cheat on his wife! Oh wait!"

"Don't even get me started."

"I helped you get Ariadne, so the least you could do would be to stay faithful to her. Castor and Pollux aren't exceptions. They shouldn't have been born."

Mr. D scowled. "I'm glad you got me a wonderful wife but—"

"I'm not even going to listen to your pitiful excuse. You deserve this punishment. Now, I need to speak to you two about something. Something important."

Chiron finally seemed to look intrigued. "And what would that be, Percy?"

"I need to bring Luke out of Camp Half-Blood for a certain period of time. I need to freshen his mind. He's grieving over Thalia far too much. I think he loved her."

"Think?"

"_Know_. I know Luke loved Thalia. It's obvious. Achilles acted the same way when Brisēís got taken by Agamemnon... except with a lot less violence and cursing. He admitted he loved her then. Luke has to be in love with Thalia, err, has to _have been_ in love with Thalia to grieve so much as to that. Annabeth is far from heartless, and she isn't that bad."

"Love isn't anything like that, my boy," Dionysus said darkly. "Have you ever met Eros?"

"Have not and I hope I never will have to. I already know Thanatos is better than him."

"Nicer at times, too!"

Percy shook his head. "That's not the point! I just... I need time to talk to Luke. Do you think that it'll be okay for us to leave camp for just a while?"

The two immortals shared a look. Then they turned back to him. "All right," they said in unison.

* * *

"Where are we going?" demanded Luke.

"Just to clear your mind," Percy replied. "We're leaving camp. Just for now."

"Good," the son of Hermes muttered. "I've wanted to get out of that dump for a week now."

"Annabeth's enjoying her time," he said coolly. "I don't think you should leave her forever. Where would she go if you left? She's told me a ton about you. You're her role model. Don't run away."

"I won't leave without her," Luke snarled. "I'd never leave without her. She and I... we'd travel the country together." His voice cracked. "Just the two of us. On our own."

"Right. Of course."

Percy hopped into the car and started it up. Luke sat in the passenger's seat next to him. The car was nothing special, a Toyota Prius, but it was good enough. Percy revved up the engine and they began their journey to Las Vegas, a destination Luke had yet to learn about.

They rode in silence for a while, Percy not wanting to ruin any thoughts the son of Hermes was having at the moment. As soon as they reached the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel, Luke spoke:

"Can I ask you something, Percy?"

"I'm all ears."

"What do you think of the gods? Like... are they nice? Do they care for their children? I've... I've only met my father once. That meeting didn't go so well. And Thalia and I... her father hasn't exactly treated her kindly either. We were thinking that going to Camp Half-Blood, a supposed safe-haven, was a bad idea."

"Camp Half-Blood is great," Percy replied. "I founded it, so I should know."

"Wait..." Luke's jaw dropped in surprise. "You're... you're immortal?"

"Smart. I guess you've got quick thinking skills. Those are your godly abilities from your father. Excellent thief, he is. Must have come in handy."

Luke suddenly went rigid. "I'm _nothing_ like my father." His tone was icy.

"You resent the gods, do you?" Percy asked. "Is that why you're asking me? To give you a better idea?"

"Well, yeah." Luke looked down, as if he were suddenly ashamed. "All of the other campers keep talking about how you're some sort of savior or something. Some claim you're a god, which I wouldn't doubt... and you seem trustworthy. I wanted to see your opinion on it."

"I'm not a god," he laughed. "Just an immortal demigod. I don't even deserve immortality. You know, the best thing I did before immortality was kill a drakon, and even then I felt as though the gods were helping me."

"A drakon?" The son of Hermes paled. "Like, a real-sized drakon with... everything?"

"Yup. Had a lot of help, though."

"How... how old are you, exactly?"

"I don't know. In terms of the Western Calendar, around three thousand years. I'm just a little bit younger than the Gigantes, the children of Gaea and Tartarus. Heracles, or Hercules if you prefer, helped them in that war."

Luke looked as if his mind had been blown. "Three _thousand_ years? That is a long time!"

"It is, isn't it?" sighed the immortal demigod sadly. "But time always comes with pain, loss and misery. Nothing I ever do will allow me to escape such things."

They were quiet for a little while. Percy let Luke soak up all of that information as he turned onto the New Jersey Turnpike. Speeding off, he swerved between cars like a madman, trying to get to their destination as soon as possible.

They were in Philadelphia when Luke spoke again.

"You never answered my question about the gods. Are they good?"

Percy turned to Luke and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you consulting me? I'm not old enough to make those judgements. I haven't had the experiences."

It wasn't the truth. In fact, Percy had already been in contact with some of the Titans. They seemed to be gaining power, Kronos wanting to rise once again. Gaea had attempted to rise back in World War II, and she had tried to convert him to her side.

The sad thing was that they had almost succeeded. There was no way that the Titans or Gaea and the Gigantes were better than the gods. Not by a long shot. But it wasn't to say the gods were good. He'd watched Zeus order (well _Jupiter_ but same god) the execution of ten of his own children just because they'd threatened his power. He'd killed Maria di Angelo intending to kill her two kids just because he was scared of a prophecy. Hades had cursed the Oracle of Delphi just because he couldn't get his revenge on Zeus. His own father had decided to murder innocent mortals because he was feeling grumpy. There were so many things that he could criticize about the gods that he probably would have repeated them if speaking out loud.

Percy knew that technically, he was a half-Titan, his father being the son of a Titan and therefore also a Titan, but the Olympians were called gods because they were better. Christians call God _God _for a reason.

Philadelphia was behind them when he decided to spill what he knew.

"All right, I'll tell you my opinion about the gods."

Luke, startled by the sudden outburst, tilted his head in an inquisitive manner.

"They're not good. Not by a long shot."

Thunder rumbled violently in the sky, and lightning streaked amongst the clouds. One thing Percy knew for sure was that a storm was beginning to roll in. Zeus was angry... probably at Hades, then for Percy's own minor annoyance.

"Zeus sounds angry," Luke said passively.

"He knows it's true. But that being said, the gods are the best we've got. They're immortals and they are bound to think they are better than us, just mortals. It's their pride. Ask any other immortal being, Titan or Giant or Primordial, and they will be just like the gods... but worse. Gaea tried to force Zeus into making her queen of Olympus after doing nothing to help the Olympians during the Titan War aside from helping raise Zeus. The Titans, during their rule of the world, killed mankind in their own free will. Disaster and torture were common in that age. Mortals say there is good and evil. I say that there is evil and the 'eviller.'"

"Then why does humanity make everything glorified? Why does the world seem so peaceful and so good when it truly isn't?"

"Because Elpis stays in Pandora's _pithos_. As long as Elpis is there, she stays with humanity. She is the one light that all humans come to in times of great need. Demigods... we fight for the survival of ourselves. Screw what the gods think. We may fight for them, but this is the matter of our own survival. I spoke to Heracles. He said the Gigantes were terrible and were vicious and cruel. Life under the gods is the most peaceful Chaos has ever seen."

"Why do the gods never visit their children?" Luke looked flustered and angry, as if he was getting the answers he didn't want. "Why are we born?"

"Because we're tools. The gods may not show it but they love us and they rely on us. Do you think my father and I have had a lovely relationship over these past thousands of years? My father's children are either really kind and really good leaders, or they're bandits and outlaws. I'm the only in between child that he has ever had. And because Zeus is paranoid, if any of the gods try to raise their demigod children, he'll smite them. Your father was incapacitated for two weeks when he fought against Zeus to raise you on your own."

For a moment, the son of Hermes actually looked stunned. "What?"

"You don't think I don't know about your mother?" asked Percy, raising an eyebrow. "I know a lot about your mother and Hermes. He did everything in his power to attempt to raise you on your own until he realized what May was going on about."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a story for another time, Luke."

"Tell me!"

"I told you. It's a story for another time."

The next few days were quieter and peaceful. As time passed, Luke's grief, anxiety and anger subsided a little bit. He became calmer, less sad, less angry and overall more relaxed. He still had that edge to him, but along the way, Percy taught the son of Hermes sword fighting.

They had stopped in Nashville, and Percy had snuck them into the Parthenon model to train.

For two weeks, Luke trained in that building. His skills were there... just not fully unveiled. Percy taught Luke how to do the disarming maneuver with excellent precision, and by the time the two weeks was over, the son of Hermes could disarm him when he fought at fifty percent. He was a quick learner.

Philosophy was also one thing that he taught Luke. Despite his bitterness against the gods, it seemed as though he was beginning to warm up to the idea of having the gods as the rulers of the world.

By the time they reached Las Vegas, Luke was twice as knowledgeable and twice as skilled with a sword. And Percy led them to the place: The Lotus Hotel and Casino.

"This is the place."

"Why are we coming here?"

"You'll be relaxed in here. Nothing will bother you."

Luke gave him a doubtful look but followed him in. As soon as he entered, Luke said, "Whoa!"

The whole lobby was a giant game room. And not those cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide slithering around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each on the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine.

"Hey!" a bellhop said. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

"Uh..." Luke trailed off.

"The bill's taken care of," he said, laughing. "No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."

He handed both of them a green plastic credit card.

"How much is on here?" asked Luke.

His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"They're unlimited," Percy said. "It doesn't run out of money."

"Exactly what this man says!" The bellhop turned to Percy. "Have you been here before? You look familiar."

"I have. Just a few days ago."

"Right! You're the guy that surfs really well!"

"Yeah... yeah."

"All right. Enjoy your stay!"

Luke gave Percy a wide-eyed stare, but the son of Poseidon shrugged it off. "Come on. Let's get to the room."

* * *

Their room was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun.

"Holy Hermes," Luke muttered. "This place is..."

"Sweet?" Percy suggested.

"Absolutely amazing," Luke finished.

"Look in the closet," Percy said. "There'll be clothes that'll fit you. Take a shower and go downstairs and have some fun. Do whatever you want. Just don't leave without me."

Startled and amazed, Luke moved in a daze, but he did as Percy said.

As the son of Hermes went on his journey of the Lotus Hotel and Casino, Percy went to what he came here for: Bianca and Nico di Angelo.

* * *

Nico ran into him as he approached the bungee-jump station. The momentum of the boy nearly knocked Percy over, but he managed to keep his balance. Nico wasn't so lucky. His momentum brought him down. Still, Nico di Angelo was laughing his head off.

Bianca came into view, her face hidden under a floppy green cap.

They looked exactly like they had been nearly seventy years ago. The only difference was their clothing. They wore modern-styled clothing, though Nico wore an aviator's jacket from the 40s. They still looked young and playful, but Bianca looked a little more shy and wary of her surroundings.

"Nico!" she exclaimed.

Taking a glance up at Percy, she flushed. "Sorry," she muttered quietly.

"It's fine," he replied kindly. Helping Nico up, the son of Hades looked curiously at his sister.

After a moment's pause, his face lit up with a grin. "Bianca likes you!"

"Nico!" exclaimed an embarrassed Bianca.

Percy's mouth twitched. It had been a joke before that Nico would always tease Bianca about liking Percy and having a crush on him. She would always deny that, but sometimes Percy knew that wasn't the case. The daughter of Hades often got nervous around him and flushed and blushed. Once, he had even kissed her on the cheek, and her face was burning red.

The fact that Nico pointed that out didn't surprise him.

Now, to clear things up, there's a big difference between being in love and having a crush on someone. Percy wasn't in love with Bianca and didn't have a crush on her, but she did. Did that mean she desperately wanted him to be hers? No. Of course not.

They wouldn't be together. It just wasn't likely. On the other hand, Percy and Zoë... And even Percy and Aphrodite. He had had some really nice times with Aphrodite, and generally speaking, she's a nice person... obsessed with love but nice.

"I'm sorry," apologized Bianca. "My brother can be... a bit of a hassle."

"No problem whatsoever." He stuck his hand out. "My name is Percy. Percy Jackson."

Excitedly, Nico shook his hand. "I'm Nico di Angelo. And this is my sister—"

"Bianca di Angelo," Bianca finished, glaring at her brother. She didn't shake his hand, though. She looked a little timid.

"Well, I should probably bring you guys back to your parents," he said. "Where are they?"

Bianca and Nico shared a sad look. "We... we don't have parents. We're orphans."

"Orphans? What are you doing in a hotel like this?"

Bianca looked as though she were reaching for the thought when she suddenly frowned. "I—I'm not sure..."

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm going to help you guys have fun. It might get some of that stress off of your back, Bianca. Looking after a fussy kid like Nico."

"Hey!" Nico protested.

Bianca laughed shyly. "You've got that right."

"Come on. Let's have some fun!"

* * *

Percy started the Prius as Luke sat anxiously next to him.

"How the Hades did two years pass?" he asked. "It only felt like a day... or less. I'm not sure."

"Time travels differently in there. It travels slower than in real life. I've been checking every day, but at least now you're fresh and rejuvenated. You'll be ready to head back to Camp Half-Blood."

"I will?"

"Yes, because I'm going to tell you what happened to your mother and why Zeus incapacitated your father for two weeks."

Luke was silent.

"When you were a baby, May Castellan was a lively young woman. She was tall, just like you, and pretty. She had your sandy-blonde hair, your shining eyes, and a nice and friendly smile. She was a wonderful woman all-around. She was also very confident. She loved you very much even though she knew one day you would have to go to Camp Half-Blood to train. But she was also born with a curse. She had Clear Sight, a mortal ability to see through the Mist. And hers was strong, far stronger than most other mortals. She predicted things like crazy, drawing her images like a robot. In that confidence, she believed she could become the new Oracle of Delphi. Now, you cannot tell anybody what happened to the Oracle. Promise that by the River Styx."

"I swear by the River Styx that I will not reveal what happened to the Oracle."

"After World War II, Hades cursed her because of the prophecy. It regards a half-blood of the eldest gods. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. His children were killed and he took his anger out on the Oracle. Because of this, he vowed that until the time came when he deemed right, the Oracle would never pass on to another's body. Hermes warned May, your mother, about this. Chiron also thought it dangerous. I told her that if she dared to try it, she would be cursed forever, never being able to properly see her family again. She took that risk. The Oracle never held on and she only gained the ability to see small glimpses into the future. She knows your fate. No one else does."

Luke was silent. Percy kept driving.

"Hermes then immediately grabbed you and went to Olympus. He ordered a meeting and demanded that you be able to be risen by Hermes on Olympus. Zeus swept you away, sent Iris to drop you back at your mother's house, and smote Hermes for his impudence. Your father was injured for two weeks. But as a god, he cannot control your life. He cannot be there because of the Ancient Laws. Zeus forbids anyone to see their children directly. If they do, they are smote."

After a long period of silence, Luke said, "My father tried to raise me on Olympus?"

"Yes, and many agreed with him: Artemis, Dionysus, Ares, Aphrodite, my father and so on. But Zeus disagreed and made his decision. Hermes once went to check on you when you were five, but Zeus caught him and made him watch your mother go into one of her crazy fits whilst shaking you around."

"Zeus did that?" Luke's face twisted into a sneer.

"None of the gods like the children of other gods. They prefer their own. Zeus loves Thalia, but he couldn't do anything. He had to respect the laws he made for himself."

"Hermes actually cared," Luke said, as if the words were alien. "Hermes actually cared."

"He did."

"I'm sorry, dad," muttered Luke. "You deserve another chance."

And as they rumbled along the road, following a sedan holding a lawyer and two kids, thunder screamed across the sky.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	4. Bianca's Not the Lightning Thief

**Here is another chapter everyone! This is building the foundation, and now we're right into the Lightning Thief. Things will be shaken up quite a bit, and there will definitely be some characters cut from being main parts of the story, but overall, I'm following the plot of the PJO series. There is no set person narrative. I think it will be Omniscient in Third-Person P.O.V. I want to tell the story in mainly Nico's point of view with Percy's thrown in a lot. You'll notice that although Percy is a main character, is _the_ main character, he will not be in every single chapter. I hope that is okay with you because so far I've got sixteen chapters for the Lightning Thief and nine chapters for the Sea of Monsters planned. Who knows how many more I'll add with the next three books.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy. Read, review, follow and favorite!**

**Thanks,**

**Sharky**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Luke threw a side-swipe which Annabeth easily dodged. Her knife still strapped to her side, he wielded a sword instead. It was something that fit her twelve-year-old body. It wasn't too long. It wasn't too short.

Her forehead beading with sweat, Annabeth lunged forward with a stab. Luke easily blocked that.

He went a little wild and sent wide, slashing strikes at Annabeth, but she was far more skilled than she used to be. She blocked all of the strikes were her shield before pushing forward and smashing Luke with her shield.

She wasn't strong enough to knock Luke down, but she was strong enough to make him stumble. She rolled underneath his legs and held her sword pointed at the back of Luke's neck.

"Give up?"

"What do you think?"

"No."

"Of course not."

As quick as a viper, Luke spun around and kicked Annabeth's sword hand. Her sword flew out of her hand and clattered to the ground. He stepped in and slammed her shield to one side making her lurch to her left. Then, he laid the flat of the blade on her shoulder, the edge right next to her neck.

"Give up?"

"I give. I _could_ have beat you. I just... I need more practice."

"Don't worry, Annie. You'll get better and better. Maybe Ethan can teach you a thing or two."

Annabeth laughed. "I'd like to see you two fight again. Now _that_ would be an entertaining fight."

"Hey! He _is_ the best sword fighter of this generation. Percy taught him himself. That deserves something."

"You are right."

Luke sighed and trudged over to the drinks cooler. Chugging down as much water as he could without overflowing his digestive system, he burped. Right into Annabeth's face.

She gave him a blank stare, and he couldn't help but crack a grin.

"Did you just burp in my face?" Annabeth asked calmly.

"What do ya think, Annabeth?" he teased winking at her.

She blushed and turned a little red. Luke loved to make fun of the little daughter of Athena whenever he could. Often, she would be like a bookworm, a dictionary, or something that related to intelligence, and it could get really annoying.

Maybe it was just him but ever since he'd arrived back at Camp Half-Blood, Luke noticed that a lot of girls had been paying attention to him. All of them looked embarrassed any time he spoke to them energetically. Even when he was quiet, they seemed to be mesmerized about something. It was weird, frankly. Annabeth seemed to be the only girl who could control herself.

Luke guessed that two years of being apart made her admiration for him dissipate a little. They had only known each other for half a year before they arrived at camp, and even though they felt like family, Annabeth seemed to look up to him more like a role model rather than a crush.

To put it simply... it was complicated.

"Do you ever wonder where Percy goes all the time?" Luke asked Annabeth as she took a sip of water. "He _did_ start the camp, but it seems as though he leaves to go somewhere else often."

"Probably doing what he does best: killing monsters," Annabeth replied. "He told me that he started the Hunters of Artemis, which is quite surprising considering he knew about us before we ran into... you know, _her_."

"_He_ started it?" he asked bewildered. "But I thought it was only for—"

"Girls? Yeah, it is. Percy just said that there were no Hunters of _Artemis_ before. There were just hunters. These hunters would be maiden girls whose patron is Artemis rather than their godly parent... or 'Titanly' parent, or mortal parents."

"And the hunters before..."

"Were all kinds of mortals: men, women and children."

"Well that's something new."

"It sure is."

The two of them stood in silence for a little while, taking a much needed break from duelling. Only a few minutes later, Luke asked, "How much about his past did Percy tell you?"

Annabeth reacted quickly. "A lot of it."

"Would you mind telling me everything? I just want to know about our trainer."

"Why should I tell you?" Annabeth jutted her chin out defiantly.

Grinning, Luke stepped forward right into Annabeth's personal space. Looking down on her with that grin and smirk, he asked again, "Please, Annabeth? Tell me what you know."

Immediately, Annabeth's face turned scarlet and she stuttered, "Uh, yeah. Sure. Why don't I, uh, let's go to the lake."

"Great. Let's go."

* * *

"Two years in Maine is enough," Percy hissed to Hades through the Iris-message. "You should let me bring them to camp. I swear to the River Styx that I will protect them to my best ability!"

Thunder rumbled in the sky.

"And what if your best isn't enough?" growled the lord of the dead. "It wasn't enough to save my other children in World War II."

"I was fighting for my father's side! I was helping you because it was the right thing to do! You have to trust me, Hades. Haven't you already learned to stop holding so many grudges. That ruins your personality. That is your major flaw."

"You look at this from _your_ side, boy," sneered Hades. "Think about me. How would you feel on my end? I am shunned out from Olympus and treated as an outcast. None of the Olympians could care less about me. Right from when we defeated my father, I was given the Underworld: the kingdom that was _away_ from everyone else. Everyone gets on my case about Persephone, but do they care that I was lonely and miserable for eons? NO! They blame me for making the crops and the weather die. They blame me for taking an innocent young girl and tricking her into eating a pomegranate. You know, at first, Persephone actually felt _sorry_ for me! Then Demeter came and turned her back to her side. Their prejudice is inconceivably influential."

"I understand where you are coming from—"

"Do you, Perseus Jackson? Do you?"

For once, Hades shut him up.

"Of course you don't," Hades said with a scowl. "You're on the Olympians' good side. You're the '_Everlasting Hero_' who saves the day. You may not be directly part of the Great Prophecy, but I know you will be a major part in it. You will help shape the hero. That's why I made you promise to train Nico and Bianca. But at Camp Half-Blood, no. I refuse to take them out."

Percy exhaled heavily. "Well, then. You're a little too late. Good-bye, Lord Hades." Then he swiped his hand through the mist.

Turning to the school, he saw Nico and Bianca sitting on the steps alone. Nico had a pack of cards that he was playing with, and Bianca looked as cautious as ever.

A black Mercedes sedan pulled up to the curb and honked. Bianca hushed something quickly to Nico, and the two ran to the car. Watching them closely, Percy turned on the engine of the Prius and followed the Mercedes as it drove off.

He'd been analyzing the duo's afterschool patterns for the past month or so already, and he knew very well that they always took the side street to get to the apartment that they lived in. Alecto would always say that she'd be in the room next door in case they needed any help, but that was always a lie. Alecto went back down to the Underworld.

Thunder roared in the sky.

Gritting his teeth, Percy continued driving, ignoring the thunder and lightning. Zeus was definitely angry that Nico and Bianca were still alive. Even more so, he was angry at the fact that his Master Bolt had been stolen.

If Percy had been, in any such way, more attentive at the previous Winter Solstice, he would have caught the thief. He was too slow, though. The thief got away. At least, he assumed because the bolt didn't turn up at Zeus' throne the next day.

As he hit a red light, he cursed. The di Angelo kids had already crossed the intersection and were driving away. Percy tapped the wheel impatiently as the east-west lanes began to accelerate.

It seemed like forever, which was enough time for Percy to think of an idea. He reached into the cup holder of the car and pulled out a pouch. Opening it up, he reached in a grabbed a celestial bronze knife. It's name was Katoptris, or in Greek, "looking glass."

Looking straight into it he saw the same vision he'd been seeing in his dreams for weeks. Ethan Nakamura was lying dead on the rocks off a cliff side. Annabeth was barely hanging on whilst Luke and Thalia tried to pull her up.

"Not this!" he screamed. "Show me Nico and Bianca di Angelo! Where are they now?"

The knife shook in his hand, and the image shuddered. Suddenly, a map of the city showed up, a blue point labelled "Katoptris," and a red point labelled "Target."

"Yes!" he cried, and as the lights turned green, he floored it.

Referring to the map, he swerved around traffic and wildly swung around corners. He caused two accidents, but he saw that he was getting closer to them. Alecto could really drive quickly.

Just as they passed into the quiet suburbs, Percy saw their car just up ahead. Flooring it, once more, he caught up to them. He pulled up ahead of them and then swerved into their lane. Immediately, the Mercedes smashed into the Prius making the airbags explode all around him.

As quickly as he could, he got out of the car and noticed that Alecto and the two children had evacuated their own car. When Alecto saw him, her eyes bulged and she hissed, "You!"

"Give them to me, Alecto," he said sternly. "It is better for them to know rather safely than know where it's dangerous."

Nico and Bianca just seemed to notice him, and when they did, both of them looked surprised. He could tell just from their eyes that they recognized him, and the fact that he was demanding their "lawyer" hand them over to him must have put them over the top.

"Lord Hades will not be happy that I let them under your care at Camp Half-Blood," Alecto growled. "He would be very mad indeed."

"Then maybe you should have thought about your job before you accepted it."

The Fury sneered and began to change form. The lawyer's fingernails began to grow sharp and the fingers turned bony and dry. Alecto's face became leathery, and wings grew out of her back. Snarling, her teeth grew into yellow fangs, and her eyes glowed red. A magic fire-whip appeared out of thin air. Flames danced along them as she flicked them at him.

"A Fury!" Nico blurted as Bianca screamed in shock.

There was no one around to see what was happening.

"Fury?" Bianca asked incredulously. "But that's your stupid card game: Mythomagic!"

Percy ignored their conversation and pulled Anaklusmos out from his hair. The three-foot-long bronze sword gleamed as levelled it at Alecto.

The Fury hesitated a little when she saw the sword, but struck quickly after.

The whip never had a chance of making it to Percy. He darted out of the way and tapped his wrist. Aegis spun out, and the face of Medusa seemed to scream.

"Oh my god, is that—"

"Medusa!" Nico finished. Grinning, he said, "This is like the best mythology-action movie _ever_!"

"You served Hades for so long," Alecto hissed. "Why defy him now?"

"Because nobody seems to trust me," Percy growled. "I can protect them. Bianca, in two years' time, will become the child of the prophecy. She _must_ be ready!"

"The silly camp for stupid demigods will not help children of Hades. It will only hinder their progress."

"I _made_ that camp! And I _know_ it will not hinder their progress at all!"

Percy lunged forward with Anaklusmos. When the whip came at him, he used Aegis to block it off, and stabbed Alecto through her chest. With a wailing hiss, she dissolved into golden dust.

Percy immediately turned to the sky and gave it a good New York cab whistle. Looking into the distance, he spotted two grey and one black horses flying in the sky. It was a good thing he'd notified Blackjack that he would be around this area in case of an emergency.

"Are those... _flying horses_?"

It was at that moment that he realized that the two children of Hades were still there staring at him in awe. Well, at least _one_ of them was staring at him. The other was marvelling at the pegasi that were coming down from the clouds.

A pitying feeling overwhelmed Percy as he saw Bianca's look of fear. He stepped closer to them and said, "Listen, Bianca. Everything will be all right. Just follow me. I promise that I mean no harm. Can't say the same for Zeus... but..."

"What is going on here?" she asked quietly. She looked shocked. "Why did our lawyer turn into a monster?"

The pegasi landed on the street like a plane landing on a runway. Blackjack nickered.

'_Sup, boss_, he said. _These the children of Hades?_

"Yeah," Percy nodded.

_Ugh, they smell like death._

"What do you expect? Pink roses?"

"Why are you talking to a horse?" asked an exasperated Bianca.

Nico was quick to realize. "Whoa! You're a son of Poseidon! Poseidon's like the god of the seas and father of horses, right? So, you can speak to them because you're all half-brothers!"

Percy cracked a grin. "Well, exactly like that. Now, get up on a horse. I'll explain everything to you when we're on the pegasi."

He lumbered over to Blackjack and hopped onto his back. Nico eagerly followed his example, though Guido was a little hesitant to let the death-smelling kid on his back. Bianca was hesitant, but as soon as she locked eyes with Percy, she got onto Porkpie, her pegasus.

"To Camp Half-Blood," he told the pegasi, and they took off.

* * *

"This is awesome!" Nico yelled as Guido did a loop-de-loop. "I wish I was a son of Poseidon. Talking to these pegasi would be EPIC!"

They were flying high above Connecticut, and the younger di Angelo sibling was having a blast. Guido had grown accustomed to the smell of death and played with Nico. They were flying in loops and dive bombed and skyrocketed. It looked like a lot of fun.

On the other hand, Bianca was still having a hard time to grasp the truth. She seemed to be in denial of what was truly going on and continuously told the fake stories Alecto had told her. It seemed as though she realized that the Greek world was crazy and dangerous, and she wanted no part of it.

It was too late. They'd realized who they were.

"Can you go over that one more time?" asked Bianca.

"All right," Percy sighed for the umpteenth time. "You are a demigod."

"A demigod," she repeated.

"Yes. A demigod is a mortal who is born of one mortal parent and one god or goddess. Often we're called half-bloods because half our blood is godly, and the other half is mortal. That only makes us vulnerable as great as having godly blood sounds."

"Nico and I are the child of... whom? You and the lawyer mentioned a _Camp Half-Blood_ and Hades."

"I am not certain what your parentage is," Percy lied, "but I know that you and Nico are strong demigods. It seems as though Hades wants to control you. Perhaps you are children of Zeus."

"But then why would you say Zeus would mean harm?"

"I'm afraid Zeus is quite paranoid at the moment. He's dealing with a little... _problem_."

"Percy!" yelled Nico as he swooped by. "Does Zeus really have six hundred attack damage? Does he get extra movement points by—"

"Nico!" Bianca interrupted. "This isn't a game! Either way if he attacks you, you'd be dead!"

That shut Nico up for a little bit.

Bianca turned back to Percy, her eyes glimmering with worry. "What problem?"

"Like I said, I'll tell you when we get to camp."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"What are you flying on?"

Bianca realized her stupid question and hung her head. She was riding on a pegasus, and still she doubted that the gods were real. It must have been hard on her when people told her things she didn't want to believe.

"Bianca, I know it's hard to believe, but the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well... our lives get pretty dangerous. You have to understand that. Nico seems too carefree, in a fantasy world where everything is good."

"Yeah, I know. But as ridiculous as Nico is, he _is_ my brother. I've tried to make his life was wondrous as possible. It's been hard trying to raise my brother. He's stubborn and he holds grudges really well. I guess you could say it was my fault."

"Being carefree isn't always bad. Being carefree _with _ignorance is always bad."

Thunder rumbled in the sky. It was the first time in a while, but this one sounded angry. It was Zeus.

A nervous feeling trickling down his throat, he told the pegasi to lower the altitude.

"So, what was our lawyer?" asked Bianca. "What kind of creature is he?"

"Actually, _she_."

Bianca's jaw dropped.

"This is the Greek world, Bianca. The gods and some creatures can disguise themselves as anything, any human. That was a Fury, like Nico said. Specifically, Alecto, the Fury of anger. She was ordered by Hades to look after you, to watch you, to isolate you from other demigods."

"Why would Hades want to isolate us?"

"I don't know."

"Percy... one thing I've noticed is that you haven't aged a day since we saw you in the Lotus Hotel. It's been two years. Are you... are you an immortal demigod? Like Hercules. Nico used to rant on and on about how Hercules is the best demigod to ever live and then how he got turned into a god by Zeus."

"Used to?"

Bianca let out a laugh. "Well, he still does but..."

"Yeah, I get it. But yes. I am an immortal demigod, though not like Hercules. I may be immortal but that is just my physical _appearance_. I can still be killed. My blood is still mortal though I have an enchantment on me that allows my body to live on forever. Did you ever learn science?"

"Um, a long time ago I think." Bianca furrowed her eyebrows. "It's hard to remember."

"Well, think of it in terms of cells. In scientific theory, cells reproduce themselves over time, and reproduce _a lot_ when you become a teenager. But as you get older, the reproduction rate changes. It gets slower, and the human skin gets wrinkly, older, and less smooth. Being an immortal demigod, I may not be a true immortal, but the cells in my body will never slow in reproduction. They have stayed the same ever since I turned seventeen."

"Wait, if there are the gods, how does science fit in all of this?"

"It doesn't! It was just for you to see what I am like. Science never fits with 'mythology.' They just don't blend well."

"So then, you don't believe in science?"

"Of course I do! I love science. The human creativity and imagination is wonderful. I mean, I know those theories aren't true, but science is what regular humans decipher as the essence of life. Tons of children of the Greek gods are those famous scientists you see because children of Athena are not just smart. They are cunning, at least, some of them are. They invent these lies that actually make sense."

"You act as if you've seen the start of science." Bianca gave him an intuitive look. She always seemed to be analyzing him, looking for signs of weakness, lies, and doubt. She prodded curiously at him, "How... how old are you exactly?"

"To be honest, I don't know," he shrugged. "I know my approximate age, but not exact. I can tell you that my birthday, in the Western Calendar, is August 18th."

"That's my brother's birthday as well!" she exclaimed.

"Really?" He pretended to be unknowing. "Well, anyways, if you want the approximate age, I'm about three thousand years old."

Her jaw dropped for the second time in the past five minutes.

"I know," he laughed. "I'm really old, but I don't look like that, do I? Seventeen years of age..."

"But three thousand years ago... that was before the time of Archaic Greece." Bianca suddenly grabbed her head and blinked hard. "How... how did I know that?"

Keeping his facade, Percy said, "Maybe you learned it in school?"

"I don't think so..."

_Boss, we're coming up on NYC! Zeus won't be happy. Guido's already itching with nervousness._

Percy looked forward and realized that they were approaching the New York City area. They were just a few miles out from the northern end of Bronx. He could see the Empire State Building from where he was.

"To Camp Half-Blood!" he ordered the pegasi. "Quickly!"

Turning towards Long Island, the pegasi put on a burst of speed and began their descent.

Nico, still oblivious to the danger he was in, was yelling, "This is flight number 13 of Pegasus Airways descending down into Long Island, New York to Camp Half-Blood. Please put on your seatbelts."

"I think it'd be better to say 'Fasten your seatbelts' but whatever," Percy interjected.

"Not exactly a good time to be making jokes, Nico," Bianca warned. "Don't you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"Something bad is about to happen."

Lightning flashed in the sky as if proving her point.

It all went wrong just as Percy spotted Camp Half-Blood.

Guido's left wing was struck by lightning, and the pegasus went hurtling down to the Earth.

"Nico!" Bianca shouted as the son of Hades went down with his pegasus.

Alarmed, Percy shouted, "Porkpie! Down quickly!"

The rain began coming as Porkpie and Bianca went down to try at get Guido and Nico to safety. Percy felt the water coming harder and faster quickly. Zeus definitely wanted these kids dead.

Wind began to blow at him, and he hurtled down to try and catch up with the two children of Hades. It wasn't until he was fifty feet off the ground that he saw them getting up from the ground. Guido had trotted away, and Porkpie was doing the same.

"Nico!" he yelled. "Bianca!"

The two children of Hades looked up, and at that moment, a storm spirit, an _anemoi theullai_, roared past Blackjack sending a tempest of wind into Percy's face. It knocked him off his pegasus, who soared away into the night sky. He landed hard and felt that unmistakable pain in his left leg when he crashed to the ground.

"Percy!" Bianca cried running up to him. Nico was hot on her heels.

Grunting, he said, "It's my left leg. Broken."

Lightning flashed and illuminated the pine tree just up two hundred meters away from them. He hoisted himself up with the help of the two di Angelo siblings. They supported him on both sides and they began working together to get to the pine tree as quickly as possible.

They were ten meters away from the pine tree when their plan was ruined.

A mighty roar came from behind them, and out of curiosity, Bianca and Nico both turned to look. Percy dreaded that sound. It was a creature he'd never faced before but a creature that he'd learned of before: the Chimera.

He whirled around with his bow in his hands. He aimed an arrow for Echidna's neck, but she swiftly dodged and instead nicked her ear.

"Now, now, is that the way you treat a guest?" she hissed. "It is rare that Zeus honors me with the chance to capture one child of Hades and kill the other!"

"Child of Hades?" Bianca asked with wide eyes. "We're children of Hades?"

"Yes!" There was no point in lying now. "You are children of Hades!"

"And one will be dead quite soon, preferably the boy." Echidna cackled.

The Chimera slowly advanced on them. Percy could sense Nico backing off just as slowly. Bianca stood plywood-still, however, and before Percy could react, the Chimera pounced on her. She was too slow to react, and in a shower of golden sparks, Bianca disappeared.

"Bianca!" Nico screamed. His eyes suddenly darkened and he gave Echidna a murderous glare. He took a step forward, but Percy held him back.

"Don't, Nico!" he warned. "You'll get yourself killed."

"That was my sister!" the son of Hades yelled. "Let me attack that monster! The Chimera only has five thousand attack power! I can take it! Attack!"

"Nico, this isn't a game! If you get injured, you're done for life. You'll be sent to the Underworld, to your father's realm."

"Let me attack! LET ME ATTACK!"

Suddenly, the ground split open all around them. A dozen skeletal warriors clawed their way out of the ground. Roman legionaries. Echidna's smile was wiped off her face. She didn't look too pleased that Nico had the ability of summoning skeletal warriors already. Even Nico seemed stunned that he summoned the skeletal warriors.

They chattered in the language of _Bone_, which for some reason Percy could understand.

_Protect the master_.

The skeleton warriors locked up in a Roman line infantry formation and began using those tactics that were so deadly to Greek demigods thousands of years ago. The _pila_ came. Then the _gladius_'. It was a good thing Percy reacted quickly.

He knocked five arrows at once and let them fly towards the monster. Two hit the Chimera and made him stumble back. Echidna hissed as the thunder and lightning faded into the distance.

"This is not over, son of Hades," she hissed. "Your sister is gone, and we will be back to attack you. Watch your back!"

Rippling into darkness, the Chimera and Echidna disappeared, and the skeleton warriors fell into piles of bone.

"My sister," muttered Nico di Angelo. "My sister."

Percy could see Nico's excitement dissolving. The son of Hades' eyes looked just like his mother's, but that glint in his eyes showed one of a true madman. Percy could feel darkness radiating from Nico's body like power radiated from his own (at least, that's what Annabeth and Luke said).

Tearing up, Nico's face twisted into a sneer. "My sister is dead. My sister is dead."

Percy patted the boy's shoulder and said, "Let's get to camp."

"My sister..." Nico stared defiantly at Percy. "We're going to get her back from the dead. Train me more and we'll go."

Nodding, Percy and Nico slowly hobbled their way into Camp Half-Blood. But one thing Percy knew for sure was that Bianca wasn't dead. She was a captive of Zeus' for leverage against Hades.

And furthermore: Hades would be _really_ pissed.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	5. Percy's Realization

**Here is another chapter everyone! This is building the foundation, and now we're right into the Lightning Thief. Things will be shaken up quite a bit, and there will definitely be some characters cut from being main parts of the story, but overall, I'm following the plot of the PJO series. There is no set person narrative. I think it will be Omniscient in Third-Person P.O.V. I want to tell the story in mainly Nico's point of view with Percy's thrown in a lot. You'll notice that although Percy is a main character, is _the_ main character, he will not be in every single chapter. I hope that is okay with you because so far I've got sixteen chapters for the Lightning Thief and nine chapters for the Sea of Monsters planned. Who knows how many more I'll add with the next three books.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy. Read, review, follow and favorite!**

**Thanks,**

**Sharky**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Nico walked into the camp with any dignity whatsoever. And he had every right not to.

Who, in their right mind, would not be sad over the death of a close family member? Cold, heartless fools. That's who.

Just the knowledge that his sister was gone was already too much for him, not to mention this new Greek world around him. Sure, it was cool and all, but it had just taken his sister's life. He knew he had been joking earlier, but now it all seemed far too real. He felt as though the carpet had been taken out from underneath his feet and now he was falling into empty darkness. His sister had been there for him through thick and thin, and had taken care of them both. He knew she had been trying to make his life happy.

And he'd ruined that by being too carefree.

Bianca had always understood him for the person he was. She'd understood who he was, what he liked, what he enjoyed to do, and the entire concept of his being. There was no one else that could replicate her.

Then there was Percy Jackson. At first, when they had first met, he'd pointed out that his sister had a crush on him. It was kind of expected, though. The seventeen-year-old had messy jet black hair that just looked appealing. His face was handsome as well; his olive skin was a perfect tone, and his sea green eyes shone with a happy yet knowing brightness. He looked happy yet depressed at the same time. The bags under his eyes were heavy from lack of sleep, but it looked as though he were used to him. The most attractive part of him (at least, what Nico thought girls would find most appealing) was the small scar that ran underneath his right eye. It was weird yet it made him look human.

Percy Jackson was a... different individual. He looked like a regular human, that's for sure, but the power that radiated off of him were sent like nuclear blasts. His whole aura was one of power.

Nico remembered that he was a son of Poseidon. That meant he was the son of the god of the sea. He wondered if the demigod could control any type of water, like ice and water vapor, or if he could only control bodies of water because Poseidon wasn't the god of water.

Then, he remembered the fact that Percy was immortal. He looked like he hadn't aged a day between earlier today and two years ago. He remembered overhearing Percy say something about being three thousand years old. That would be all the way back to the times of the Trojan War and...

Wait! Where did he learn that from?

"Nico di Angelo," Percy Jackson announced as they limped over the hill. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

Nico could have sworn that he was hallucinating when he saw the camp. They reached the pine tree at the top of the hill, and as they crossed it, Nico felt a sudden change in the atmosphere. It almost felt like... like magic.

Then he looked down into the valley.

Half a mile down, there was a large, sky-blue house that seemed to be the headquarters of the camp. That wasn't even the impressive part.

As the two of them made their way further down, Nico could see buildings start to pop up on the landscape. By the time they reached the large house, Nico could see a beach about a mile into the distance. Between those two points, the landscape was dotted with buildings designed with ancient Greek architecture. There was a forest to the left side of the valley, and by forest, he meant a _forest_.

Even from the large house, he could tell the forest was quite large.

Looking back down to the buildings, he noticed that there was a collection a buildings shaped in the form of a U at what seemed to be the center of camp. A giant hearth glowed in the center of the U.

There was an arena, a forge and an armory. Further to the left, adjoining with the forest, was a huge strawberry field. There looked to be at least fifty people in the field harvesting the strawberries. He could also see stables for... more pegasi?

Closer, and to the right, was an amphitheater. There was a canoe lake, a volleyball court, and an arts and crafts building. There were showers and toilets and a mess hall that had no roof whatsoever. The most amazing thing to look at from the large house was this huge rock climbing wall that had fire pouring down. There were a couple of teenagers on it trying to avoid the hot liquid.

The entire camp looked so amazing, that he didn't even hear Percy trying to speak to him.

"Nico!"

He was suddenly burst back into reality and noticed that a man in a wheelchair was looking straight at them from the porch of the large house. The man had thinning brown hair, bushy eyebrows, and eyes so intense, he could literally feel his gaze.

Percy brought them along to meet the man, but before Nico could say anything, Percy said, "Hey, Chiron. Show Nico around. He's... you know... I'm going down to the canoe lake to heal my leg. And hopefully the naiads will stop flirting with me."

The man chuckled, though his eyes were trained on Nico. "Of course. Come, Nico."

Nico glanced at Percy, who smiled and said, "Go on. Chiron's a great mentor. He's going to introduce you to camp. When I get back, we'll start discussing your role as a son of Hades and what is going on."

He nodded and walked up onto the deck of the large house. Percy hobbled away, and Chiron offered him to take a seat at the table on the deck.

"Sit down, Nico di Angelo."

Nico took a seat. "How do you know my name?"

"Children of Hades are popular on Olympus," Chiron said. Nico could tell he was joking, but he said it in such manner that it would be hard to differentiate seriousness and a joking way. "You and your sister, Bianca, have made quite a show up on Olympus."

"Olympus." Nico took a deep breath in to get used to that. "It's all real, isn't it? Olympus, the Underworld, Tartarus, demigods... and I'm one of them. I'm a son of Hades. That's how I could summon those skeleton warriors. They were... Roman legionaries."

Chiron looked a little surprised, but he was a good actor. His face kept calm and collected. "Most newcomers wouldn't believe as quickly as you do. Denial is always the first step for a demigod. Do you know anything other than the things that Percy has told you? What do you remember about Greek gods?"

He thought hard and was surprised when he got an answer. "They rule overtop... overtop the, uh, Umpire Date Building in New York. No, the... the _Empire State_ Building in New York." His eyes widened. "How did I know that?"

Chiron got this mysterious glimmer in his eyes. "You tell me."

"I don't know." He scratched his forehead. "I just remember this faint voice. It was speaking to us as if giving me a lecture. I remember... Washington D.C., but that's it. Nothing else."

"I see." Chiron analyzed him, and Nico wondered if he actually knew all about him. Maybe Nico had had his memories taken or something. The way that Chiron and Percy acted and spoke made him feel as though they knew who he was. They were just waiting for his amnesia to pass. "Is there truly nothing else that you remember?"

Then an idea came to him. Looking at Chiron in shock, he said, "The River Lethe! That's a river in the Underworld that takes away the memories of anyone who touches its waters, right?"

A sudden flood of memories came jolting into his head: he remembered being brought to the River Lethe by Alecto, getting dunked in, not knowing who he was or where he was going, getting told that his name was Nico di Angelo and that he had a sister named Bianca di Angelo, driving to Las Vegas, getting in an old hotel called the Lotus Hotel and Casino, and staying there for what seemed like weeks.

"Yes," Chiron agreed, "but interestingly enough, the memories still linger around those who are dunked in. The shades will completely forget who they were if they wash themselves in the Lethe. Living demigods, however, have their memories removed from their head until something triggers a memory relapse. They can have most of their memories returned to them."

"So, you're saying that I can eventually find my memories back? If I get the right trigger..."

"Your memories will return? Most likely."

Nico nearly jumped out of his seat in excitement.

"But were you washed in the Lethe?"

That question made Nico's smile waver. Sure, he had guessed that his memories had been washed away by the Lethe, but he wasn't certain that it was the Lethe. What if some other entity had taken his memories?

"I'm... I'm pretty sure," he said uncertainly.

Chiron raised a bushy eyebrow.

"I'm... I'm sure," he said more confidently. Inclining his head, he said, "I'm sure. Just like how I'm sure that this entire concept of Greek gods is real. This is too ridiculous to be fake. Even _my_ imagination isn't this wild."

"Who knows?" Chiron said in a wise tone. "Perhaps you do have an imagination this wild. Perhaps this is all a dream. Then again, perhaps this is the true reality. You are in America with the Greek gods. Your father is Hades, god of the Underworld, who now lives..."

He trailed off and it took a second for Nico to figure out that he wanted him to finish off his sentence. "Hades lives in the Underworld. There used to be a few entrances, didn't there? There was one in... in Epirus near the Acheron river. A word... Necromanteion."

"But he has moved with the heart of the West."

"The what?"

"Western civilization, Nico. Do you think it as an abstract concept? No, it is a living force. The gods started it thousands of years ago, back when Pandora was still alive. It is the idea of where power is held highest. The Greek gods were originally Greek and Greek only. Power fell under Greek influence. Then poor choices were made. They moved to Rome and, although adopting new names, such as Jupiter for Zeus and Venus for Aphrodite, they were the same gods. Romans gained power because they became greatest Western empire to ever set a strong grip on land in Europe. Only until the times of Napoleon, British conquest, Nazi Germany, and now, the United States of America, was Rome ever rivaled in power. But you see now how the gods have progressed through time? They once lived over France, over the Eiffel Tower. They once lived over Great Britain. Now they live above America."

"I... I feel like I've heard this all before."

"Maybe you have. But look all around you. The national animal of the United States is an eagle, a symbol of Zeus. The White House's columns derive from ancient Greek architecture. In Nashville, your mortal citizens have erected a replica of the ancient Parthenon that once stood on the Acropolis in Athens. The Greek gods are everywhere."

Nico tried to take in the information as best as he could, but everything seemed so hard to take in. It was believable yet unbelievable at the same time.

Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were trying to get out of his wheelchair. Nico frowned. How would a disabled man get out of his wheelchair? Then a crazy thought hit him. _What if the wheelchair was a disguise?_

And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. Nico got a tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach as the front of an animal began rising out of the chair; muscle and sinew flexed under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair anymore. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, the hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.

Realization hit Nico. "You're Chiron the centaur, the trainer of Hercules, Jason and—"

"The mighty Achilles," Chiron finished. Stretching out, he said, "What a relief. I'd been cooped up in there for days now. I've been expecting you to arrive with Percy for quite a while. Now, come on. It looks like Percy is ready to talk now."

* * *

Nico stared at the other two demigods as Percy came up from the volleyball courts. He noticed the son of Poseidon had a slight limp, but there didn't seem to be any more pain from nearly destroying his leg earlier. Nico commended the demigod's bravery in getting up from that.

To Percy's right was a tall, strong-looking guy. He looked about fourteen, but was almost Percy's height. He had sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes, a look that Nico could tell captivated girls' hearts. He held a sword in his right hand and was sweaty. Nico presumed he'd just been sword training.

To Percy's left was a blonde-haired girl that was about Nico's height. She looked around his age, and looked like a lot of the girls that came into the Lotus Hotel. West coast, stereotypical California-type girls. Blonde hair, tanned skin... She looked pretty athletic as well. It was her eyes that made him a little intrigued, though.

They were grey, like storm clouds. It gave her this intimidating feel, as if she were looking for a way to beat him in a fight. It wouldn't be too hard considering he was as skinny as a scarecrow.

Percy grinned and introduced us. "Nico di Angelo, this is Annabeth Chase"—he pointed to the girl—"and this is Luke Castellan." He pointed to the guy.

"Annabeth, Luke. This is Nico di Angelo. He's going to be bunking in cabin eleven for now. Until his godly parent claims him."

Percy shot him a warning look: _Don't reveal who your father is yet_.

"Hi," he greeted. He stuck his hand out for them to shake. Oddly, he felt uncomfortable, as if the eyes on him were about to kill him. He'd never felt this way in public before... why now?

Luke took his hand first. His hand was rough and hardened, just like the hands of a soldier should have been. It was also quite sweaty. After giving him a long stare, Luke cracked a smirk. "You better watch out for my siblings. They'll steal whatever you have, and then whatever you _don't_ have."

Nico forced a laugh. "I'm assuming you're a son of Hermes. Well... that's a little confusing, but I guess I'll learn."

Annabeth took his hand next. They were soft and warm, just as he expected, but he didn't feel attracted to the girl. In fact, he was wary of her. She looked like she would be primed and ready to kill him any time, like a mounted machine gun loaded with bullets. Any pressure on the trigger and _BAM_! He would be dead.

"I'm a daughter of Athena," she said bluntly. There was no drama or conundrum. "Cabin six. You'll learn when we take the tour."

"Tour?"

"Yup," said Percy cheerily. "We're going to take a tour of Camp Half-Blood. Honestly, it'll get your mind off anything that might be bothering you."

Nico couldn't tell whether that was intentional or not but he felt a pang of grief in his chest. _Poor Bianca_. He couldn't tell what exactly was going on around him but he realized that he was blinking quite a lot.

When his vision came back into focus, he saw the other two demigods looking at him curiously. Despite their indifferent demeanors, he could see the curiosity prickling at their eyelids. He tried shrugging it off before muttering, "Yeah. Alright."

And so the tour commenced. Nico tried to pay attention, but the fact that his sister had died was too much to handle. He couldn't remember when he passed out. They were either near the forest or the strawberry fields or something citrusy.

Then he figured it out: lemons.

* * *

Percy looked over at Nico sadly. The son of Hades laid still on the infirmary bed as he had been for the past day. He woke up once when Annabeth was tending to him, but otherwise he had been sleeping this entire time.

Percy could tell that the boy was still alive. Just stunned after the previous day's events. It was a good thing that Annabeth and Luke had been there. They had managed to catch Nico before he hit the ground.

Other than Nico, the infirmary was empty, which was a surprise considering the campers and Camp Half-Blood got injured rather often.

Percy placed a cup of nectar at Nico's bedside and sat down on one of the other beds. Right at that moment, the air rippled beside him and he immediately knew it was an Iris-message. He shifted over a little bit, but when the image cleared, he grinned and moved closer to get a good look at one of the bravest satyrs he'd ever met.

"Grover Underwood," he said. "It's been a long time."

"It sure has been," sighed the satyr.

Percy remembered what had happened to the satyr after he'd failed to bring Thalia into camp alive. It was terrible. Grover had already been terrified by the monsters that he had faced trying to get Thalia back. Then he had to face the wrath of the Council of Cloven Elders.

"_Please, Leneus," Grover said, his wispy chin trembling. "I—I need to help find Pan! That's what all satyrs are meant to do! I just... I didn't mean to—"_

"_Silence, you imbecile," snapped the old satyr. "You have failed at your tasks miserably. Do you think that maybe, if you hadn't been so worried about the other two demigods, that you would have succeeded in your task?"_

"_I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth—"_

"_What do the gods say?" asked Silenus. "Their children must find their own paths. You were given direct orders to retrieve Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, and bring her to Camp Half-Blood. You failed in your task. You are not worthy of a searcher's license."_

"_But Luke and Annabeth—" Grover sputtered. "I couldn't just leave them! That's cold-hearted!"_

"_Then perhaps Hedge should have been sent instead of you, you withering buffoon! At least he would have had the guts to fight the monsters with the daughter of Zeus."_

"_Maron!"_

"_You will be assigned another task sometime in the future, Grover Underwood," said Silenus. "Until then you will be assisting the dryads and naiads in Camp Half-Blood. Should you fail again..."_

_Silenus didn't have to finish. Grover flinched as if he'd just been hit, but Percy emerged out of the forest after hearing the conversation. With dark green eyes, he eyed the Council, whom all immediately bowed._

"_I hear that Grover is being put on a waiting list for another protector assignment," he said calmly, leaning against a tree._

"_Yes, Perseus," Leneus answered. "He failed in his assignment to_—_"_

"_His assignment was to bring Thalia Grace to Camp Half-Blood alive. She _was_ brought to Camp Half-Blood alive. She was inside the boundaries of the camp. She died soon after of complications."_

"_But Perseus_—_"_

"_Grover was knocked unconscious. He could not have done anything. It was my fault. Had I not been slower, Thalia would be alive today. I let her die for my own selfish reasons. And saying that Gleeson Hedge would fight when Grover would not is a lie. Both fight in their own way: Hedge with combat, and Grover with his courage. Grover has something that all of you lack. He deserves his searcher's license."_

"_The rules are stated clearly! We cannot_—_"_

"_And since when have you abided by the rules? You three have always disregarded satyrs you dislike. Remember Deuxes?"_

_The satyrs were stunned into silence._

_Smirking, Percy turned to Grover, who was staring up at him in awe and gratitude. "Congratulations, Grover Underwood. You've earned your searcher's license_._"_

Flashing back to the present, Percy noticed that the satyr looked a little disturbed.

"What's the matter, Grover?"

The satyr's expression went solemn. "I heard that Zeus captured a daughter of Hades named Bianca di Angelo. She has a brother, Nico."

Cocking his head to the side, Percy asked, "Where did you hear that from?"

"News travels fast," replied Grover. "I just wanted to warn you that I was in Los Angeles today with a couple of friends. The place just had a minor earthquake. It was big enough to be felt... but I think Hades is mad. Not only that, but Poseidon and Zeus are quarreling. It seems as though they're fighting over who gets to hold onto the daughter of Hades for ransom."

He went wide-eyed. "Please tell me you're not serious."

"I _am_ serious."

Percy looked over at Nico. "That isn't good."

"It isn't. But what's even more disturbing, some nymphs have reported seeing a large Titan from the north coming down to kill them. Koios, I think, they called him. I'm not sure what is exactly going on, but one reported that he said their master would rise once again."

"Koios?" Percy blanched. He knew exactly what that meant. In fact, the last time he'd been near Tartarus, "their leader" had tried to convince him to join their side.

"I know that face, Percy." Grover gave him a knowing look. "What are you hiding?"

"You'll know when the time comes. Thanks for the heads up, Grover."

Quickly, he swiped his hand through the Mist. Looking back down at Nico, Percy realized what the Great Prophecy meant. And it truly terrified him. If a twelve year old had to fight against Titans and monsters until he was sixteen years old, it would be a painful and excruciating process.

Percy pulled the Infinity Pouch from his pocket and pulled out a pouch of pure magic. He cupped the pouch in his hands and gently opened it over Nico's unconscious body. Whispering in an ancient language, magic, he gave Nico all of the luck that he'd ever had in surviving. He called back on all of the knowledge that Hecate taught him over the millennia and sent it into a burst of white magic into Nico's body.

For you see, the only reason Percy had survived this long was because of the Fates and his luck. He knew that if he passed it to Nico, Nico would have a higher chance of survival. He could almost hear the Fates whispering to him that his decision was fated. But he couldn't care less.

"I promised you, Hades, that I would train Nico and Bianca," he muttered. "I intend on keeping that promise."

Thunder rumbled in the sky, and Nico's eyes flew open.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	6. Capture the Flag Takes A Wrong Turn

**I feel like I'm making Nico a little bit overpowered right now, but then again, he does practice with Percy and what not. Well, we'll see how his powers progress over time. Hope you enjoy this chapter and see you when I am able to get the next one done.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Nico's first tour didn't go so well. His second tour wasn't much better.

After waking up a day after his first tour, he decided to give Camp Half-Blood one more try. For some reason, he felt like he didn't fit here, like this wasn't friendly territory. He remembered that he was a son of Hades and wondered if that had anything to do with his misfortunes.

So, instead of running away because of his dead sister, he trusted that Percy would take care of him. He didn't know why, but the immortal demigod seemed so trustworthy. His eyes were sad and dark as well, as if he could understand that pain that Nico was going through.

It was also the first time that he had seen the cabins. They were the weirdest assortment of buildings he'd ever seen lined up together, and breaking through the cracks in his memory, he was pretty sure that he'd seen some pretty weird things before.

At the two ends were the Hermes and Dionysus cabins, cabin eleven and twelve respectively. The Dionysus cabin looked exactly like what he had expected. The entire building was lined with an assortment of vines. Grapevines (not the wine-making grapes) were the most abundant following quickly by tomatoes. Nico wondered if they were actually harvested for food at the camp.

It was interesting to see because in Mythomagic, Dionysus' abilities sucked. They were barely worth anything, but Nico thought that his powers were pretty cool. Who wouldn't like to see vines suddenly grow out of the ground and engulf a wave of monsters? And the fact that Dionysus was the god of madness... oh, Nico would've loved to see that.

"Mr. D, whose one of the heads of camp along with Chiron," Percy said, "is pretty cool. Just try not to get him agitated. I'm apparently the only hero he likes just because I helped him find Ariadne, his wife."

"Dionysus is really the camp director?" Nico asked. "You're not joking, right?"

Percy laughed. "Of course not, Nico."

_So cool_, he mouthed.

Grinning, Percy nodded over to the Hermes cabin.

The Hermes cabin looked like the most old and boring out of the cabins. It had peeling brown paint, which made Nico feel as though it hadn't been touched since the second World War. Overtop of the door was a caduceus hanging from string. Obviously it wasn't the real one, but it looked pretty realistic.

"That's probably where you're going to stay for now since there aren't any cabins for children of Hades," Percy said in a low tone. "For now, you'll be undetermined, but I'll immediately erect a cabin for Hades as soon as I can."

"But... you said you started this camp... why would the gods send their children here then? Why not someplace else?"

"What do you mean?"

Nico looked around hesitantly. "What if Zeus gets angry that there is a cabin for Hades in 'his' camp? He's already killed Bianca. There's no doubt that he's going to come and kill me next. He'll tear down the cabin for Hades."

Percy pursed his lips tightly. "I won't let him. You're the child of the prophecy. You're the—" Suddenly, he blanched and went silent.

"Prophecy?" Nico's mind twisted around a whole bunch of possibilities.

"Never mind," the immortal demigod said quickly. "Let's get you acquainted with the rest of the cabins."

Nico reluctantly obliged.

Cabin ten was the cabin of Aphrodite's children. Nico expected it to be more... love-like. Then again, Aphrodite wasn't the goddess of love itself. She was the goddess of the concept of love. Instead, he saw a cabin that looked like one of those Barbie-doll playhouses for little girls. He remembered seeing them in D.C. when he and Bianca passed through a couple years back. He'd made fun of Bianca by saying she should have gotten that.

The cabin was wooden with a painted blue roof, pillars, checkerboard deck with steps and grey walls. A pretty girl with black hair and blue eyes emerged out of the cabin, glanced at him, waved and winked before jogging away, her hair flowing down her back.

"That's Silena Beauregard," Percy said. "She's the counselor for the Aphrodite cabin and the second-best equestrian at camp."

"Who's the best?" Nico asked.

The son of Poseidon flashed him a weird look.

"What?" Nico asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I am," answered Percy slowly.

Nico flushed and looked down. "Oh."

Shaking his head and chuckling, Percy walked forwards.

Cabin nine was Hephaestus' cabin. It was kind of obvious from the outside. The place looked like a miniature factory. It had dirty brick walls and smokestacks and the place smelled like fire and oil. There were tons of gears around the front entrance.

Nico could only guess what was inside. Probably a huge forge with a bunch of mechanical stuff.

Cabin eight was the most mysterious out of the twelve cabins. It was silver, yet it looked like a regular cabin. Nico guessed that was to represent Artemis. But Artemis didn't have any kids. She was a virgin. Why would this cabin be here? Unless...

"It's honorary," said Percy as if he knew exactly what he was thinking. "The Hunters of Artemis come here sometimes but they don't like the guys at the camp. They're fine with me but me only."

Nico didn't want to know.

"So..." Nico trailed off. He wasn't exactly sure what to say about the cabin. "It's nice. Looks and smells better than the Hephaestus cabin."

A wistful smile appeared on Percy's face. "I love the wild forests. They remind me of back when most of Greece was plains, mountains and forests."

Suddenly, the Artemis cabin shimmered and eloquent designs appeared on its surface. There were a whole bunch of wild animals, mostly stags, that were painted there. Nico wondered if there were more animals there before humans had been extinguishing animal life.

Cabin seven was the exactly opposite of cabin eight, like how Hyperion countered Iapetus. It was so bright that Nico couldn't look straight at it without being blinded. He was sure that if he were hurtling through the sky, the first thing he would see at Camp Half-Blood would be Apollo's cabin. The entire surface of the cabin was gold... literally solid gold...

Cabin six was Athena's cabin.

"Just so you know, I'm not only a son of Poseidon, but a descendant of Athena," Percy said. "I'm weird like that."

It was a gray building with plain white curtains and a design of an owl over the door. The owl's eyes, however, followed his every move, as if calculating when he would die. Nico wondered what it would have been like to have Athena as a mother. In Mythomagic, she was pretty awesome and intimidating in battle.

Nico remembered that Annabeth, the blonde-haired girl, was a daughter of Athena. She seemed pretty serious. He wondered if she had a humorous side to her. Probably not.

Cabin five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. It probably had been.

The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes followed him. Inside there were a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on him and gave him an evil sneer. Her hair was long, stringy and brown.

"Clarisse La Rue," Percy answered. "Counselor of the Ares cabin. Not someone you want to mess with."

For some reason, a part of Nico wanted to show Percy that he could handle fighting Clarisse. He wanted to convince the son of Poseidon that he was worthy of his attention.

Cabin four was a more earthy cabin. Flowers and tomato plants grew along the sides of the light brown cabin. And if he wasn't mistaken, the entire roof was just grass. It grew to a seemingly perfect length on top. It probably could have been a nice little playing area. Wild flowers and roses grew on the porch. Two girls were tending to them.

One had green eyes and brown hair, and the other had brown eyes and black hair. He wasn't exactly sure, but he had a feeling that this cabin wouldn't like him. Maybe it was because Hades and Demeter didn't get along well. Yeah. That was probably it.

That left the three other empty cabins, aside from Artemis': Zeus, Hera and Poseidon.

Poseidon's was number three.

"I don't sleep there because it's not my home," Percy told him. "As much as it's nice, it wasn't designed for me. My dad's had a few kids here. They're... not exactly the nicest kids you would ever know. Winston Churchill, back in World War II... he's probably one of the better children of Poseidon you'd have ever met."

Nico didn't remember the stories clearly, but he had a few bits of it. Poseidon was the very being of the sea. Some days the sea was calm and forgiving. Some days the sea was harsh and cruel. Perhaps it was the same way with his children. Some were kind and light-hearted. Some were cruel and terrifying.

"You'll never know their true extent," Percy said lowly. "When they were led into battle, the bad kids, they were more fierce and unforgiving than the Ares kids. And Ares' kids are the children of the god of _war_."

Despite that, the cabin looked dazzling from the outside. It was a long, low building with windows facing the ocean. The cabin looks like it was made from rough sea stone, pieces of coral and seashell embedded into the outside walls, and a trident with a big bronze number 3 over the door.

Nico could almost sense the sea god looking down on him disdainfully. _What a stupid child of Hades? He has yet to know what true loss is_.

Nico didn't want to know how he came up with that personality for Poseidon, but it could have worked. Then he looked towards the two biggest cabins. Hera's was obviously supposed to be honorary. She had no kids with anyone besides Zeus. And they were the greatest disappointments. Zeus, on the other hand, must have had dozens of children before the second World War.

The only thing was that they both looked like banks. Nico got a shiver up his spine when he approached Zeus' cabin. When he got within ten feet, a vision flashed in his head and he collapsed to the ground grabbing his head.

_Nico_, rasped a ghostly image of Bianca. _Go to the west. Talk to our father. He'll have the answers_.

Echoes of her scream suddenly filled his head as images of a burning river appeared in his mind. Flames erupted from the river as the ghosts of the dead screamed in his mind, _Horrible, painful, eternal suffering. Longevity is terror!_

Then the images exploded and crackled as if a lightning bolt had destroyed it.

"Nico!" Percy cried. "Are you all right?"

Nico realized that he was on the ground thrashing around like he was having a muscle spasm. Shakily he sat up. The images flashed dimly in his mind like a pestering mosquito trying to attack him.

"Yeah," he replied numbly. "I'll be fine."

After that, they went back to the Athena cabin. There, Annabeth was sitting out front reading a novel in ancient Greek. Nico wasn't surprised that he could read it. It was an architecture book, and Nico wondered if that was what Annabeth wanted to be when she grew up. Glancing up from the book, he focused on her face.

Her grey eyes swirled uncertainly. That calculating look she always gave him made him wary even to take a step. But they also held intellect and wisdom. Nico was certain that she would make for a wonderful architect.

"—sword fighting class," Percy finished. "All right, Annabeth?"

"Okay, Percy." She turned to Nico. "Follow me."

She brushed past him, and he realized that she probably saw that he was staring at her. He would have smacked himself on the side of his head if that wouldn't have looked so stupid. He followed her, though. The only thing he knew was that he was heading toward some sort of sword fighting class.

His progress was halted when they just reached the end of the cabins. They were halfway between Zeus' cabin and the arena when from behind them, a gruff voice said, "Well! A newbie!"

Annabeth slowly turned around and stared in a resigned manner at the girl behind Nico. "Clarisse. Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

Nico turned around, and sure enough, the daughter of Ares was approaching with three other girls who were just as big and ugly as her.

"Sure, Miss Princess," said the big girl. "So I can run you through with it on Friday night."

"_Erre es korakas!_" Annabeth said, which I understood to be Greek for "Go to the crows!" though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."

"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse threatened, though her eye twitched.

"We've got two of the most skilled swordsman in the past three hundred years," Annabeth countered.

Then the daughter of Ares turned to Nico and said, "Who's this little runt? Smells like something died over here."

That anger Nico a little bit but for the most part he kept his cool. He did feel a pulse of dark energy reverberate around him, but it was probably nothing. He focused his attention on the sneer-faced daughter of Ares.

"Nico di Angelo," Annabeth said. "Meet—"

"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares," Nico finished. Looking at Annabeth's expression of surprise, he gave a small grin. "Percy told me."

"You got a problem with that, _wise girl_," growled Clarisse. Her three friends laughed.

Nico wasn't sure what was so funny, but Annabeth's face went a little red. She looked... well, angry. There weren't any other words that could describe what she looked like... and synonyms didn't count.

"Her brain's probably frying itself because of the bad smell," he threw in before he even realized what he was saying. "You said you smelled death. That's probably your shampoo."

Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Death Breath."

"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.

"Stay out of it!" snapped Clarisse.

Annabeth looked a little pained, but she did stay out of it, and Nico didn't really want her help. He wanted to prove that he could handle a bully. He knew he had to earn his new reputation because he was the new kid.

And right as Clarisse stepped forward, a new level of instincts opened up that Nico never realized he had. It was almost as if he'd been trained before.

Despite his scrawny look, he realized that he could move quite quickly. He was more agile. Maybe his strength wasn't there _yet_, but the speed was pretty well flushed out... well, at least for a twelve year old.

He threw a stunning uppercut as the first move, which caught Clarisse completely off-guard. She stared at him incomprehensibly for a couple of seconds, which he took to his advantage. He jabbed at her stomach, which were as hard as rocks.

This girl probably ate raw fish and drank blood every day. How was she so strong?

He hopped to the side, but a side kick knocked him quickly to the ground. So Clarisse had broken out of her shock. That didn't look so promising.

He rolled to the side as she tried to stomp on him and got up quickly. It went on for a couple of minutes, just them attacking and recoiling over and over, but eventually it got to the point where even Clarisse was beginning to get winded. She could still go, but fatigue would soon be plaguing her. It had plagued him two minutes ago.

A hard punch knocked him to the ground, and he collapsed in a heap. It was a knockout. Clarisse had won. He breathed heavily as he lay on the ground. He felt Annabeth's presence come closer, but Clarisse shouted something and her essence disappeared.

Then a mind-shattering thought hit Nico. Somewhere in the world, a demigod child of Hermes had just been killed. Nico could feel the faint soul seep down into the Underworld and to the realm of his father, Hades. At the same time, a daughter of Apollo had just been poisoned. Her soul was halfway down into the Underworld.

Nico found a new power. He could sense when a demigod died. But... why hadn't he had that feeling when Bianca died? Why didn't he sense Bianca's soul descending into the Underworld? Before, he had promised to himself that he would raise Bianca from the dead by going to the Underworld and demanding his father for her... but now...

_Go to the west. Talk to our father. He'll have the answers._

What if... What if Bianca wasn't dead? What if Zeus had captured and imprisoned her? But why would he? What was the point of capturing and holding a daughter of Hades?

_It is rare that Zeus honors me with the chance to capture one child of Hades and kill the other!_ Echidna had said.

Only one of them needed to survive for Zeus' plan. But that plan had failed. Nico knew he had a chance at something. He just needed to find out what. He remembered Percy saying something about a prophecy. Old ancient Greek prophecies were these old rhymes that determined certain fates.

_You're the child of the prophecy!_

Would Nico be a hero? Would a hero let himself get beat up like this?

The next thing he knew, Clarisse was being dragged away with a black eye and two missing teeth. She was screaming at him, and her siblings were glaring daggers at him, but they still pulled her away.

Annabeth's look was one of shock and awe.

"So... sword fighting class?" Nico asked timidly

* * *

The entire camp was buzzing when it was Friday night. Dinner had finished and it was, at last, time for Capture the Flag.

For half a week, Nico spent training in sword fighting classes, which he found surprisingly natural. He got the hang of new moves and fighting styles quickly practically disarming both of the top two swordsman of this generation: Luke and Ethan. The only problem was that out of the fifty times they tried, he'd won twice... combined, that is.

_Ethan Nakamura_. That named reverberated in his skull. At first, Nico knew nothing about who this guy was. After talking to the campers, it seemed as though he knew everything about Ethan Nakamura. The campers were basically in love with him, though in the familial type way. The campers were in love with _Luke_ in a romantic way.

Ethan Nakamura was a son of Nemesis, but since Nemesis didn't have a cabin, he stayed in the Hermes cabin. Nico saw him every night just before going off to bed. The guy had an eye patch which was rumored to have been taken by his own mother. Nico never bothered to ask about what happened.

Ethan Nakamura was also extremely kind and nice, almost to the point where it was faked. He offered to do things for other people and seemed like a more down-to-earth kind of person. He was humble and let others come before him in most things. He and Luke were perfect matches in combat. Both fought with a similar style, mostly offense-orientated, and knew similar tricks. The only difference was that Ethan had been trained for years specifically by Percy. And Percy was the best out there.

Ethan had apparently gotten to Camp Half-Blood at a young age... almost as young as Annabeth when she arrived at Camp Half-Blood.

The best part about that was Luke _and_ Ethan, along with Annabeth and the rest of the Athena cabin, were on the same team. And Nico was a part of that team.

Since nobody yet knew about his parentage, which Percy had continuously insisted on keeping a secret, he was still a part of the Hermes cabin. That put him in the same team as Luke and Ethan for everything.

This Capture the Flag game was Athena, Apollo and Hermes against the rest. The Hephaestus kids Nico was a little worried about. They worked in the forge all day so he expected them to be big and buff, along with some mechanical tricks up their sleeves. The Demeter and Dionysus kids Nico wasn't too worried about, though he was hesitant to stay near the flowers. The Aphrodite kids, which he had learned first-hand, would just stare at themselves in hand mirrors throughout the game. They wouldn't be a problem at all. The only true test that they had were the Ares kids. They were probably the fiercest, toughest, rudest kids on Long Island.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.

"What about Percy?" Nico asked. "Where's Percy?"

The question was so sudden that everyone turned to look at him. He looked nervously around at the crowd of campers. He didn't like how all of their eyes were trained on him. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Percy is occupied at the moment," Chiron replied, a mysterious look in his eyes that Nico couldn't completely decipher. "He will not be refereeing this game with me."

That seemed to satisfy the needs of the campers. Noise broke out again, and everyone grabbed themselves armor and weapons.

The plume on Nico's helmet was blue, the same color as all of those on Athena's side. Ares' team had red plumes.

"All right, Nico," Luke said sizing him up. "You're on border patrol. Annabeth'll help you get set up. Just do as she says and this will all turn out fine."

"Okay."

Nico was tripping all over his equipment as he made his way to Annabeth, who was leading the blue team south. The red team shouted insults at them as they made their way north.

"Hey, Annabeth!"

The daughter of Athena glanced back for a brief moment, but stayed silent.

"So what's the plan?" he asked. "Got any magic items you can lend me?"

Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid he'd stolen something.

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise you should be fine. Did Luke tell you your post?"

"Uh... yeah. Border patrol, whatever that means."

"It's easy. You just stand by the creek and stop all of the reds from crossing over. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."

She continued marching ahead. Nico stopped in his tracks and muttered, "Well thanks for telling me the game plan."

It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed Nico next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.

Nico stood there alone with his big blue-feathered helmet and huge shield looking like an idiot. The bronze sword that was in his hand also didn't seem to suit him. It felt... like with most of the other swords... unbalanced.

Far away, the conch horn blew. Nico heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past him like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.

Great, he thought. I'll miss all the fun, as usual.

Then Nico heard sounds from the underbrush that sent chills up his spine. He thought for a second he heard the growling of several monsters (because there were monsters in the forest at Camp Half-Blood). And they were close.

Nico raised his giant shield instinctively. Something was definitely approaching.

When the tension almost broke, the growling stopped, and the presence retreated.

To his chagrin, on the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Four Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.

"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.

Her warlike brown eyes glared out of the slits in her helmet. She wielded a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords. It didn't make Nico feel any better.

They charged across the stream, and Nico prepared himself.

They surrounded him, and Clarisse thrust at him with her spear. His shield deflected the point, but a sudden shock of energy tingled all over his body.

The air around him burned and he smelled a chemical he knew only came up in one certain situation: Clarisse's spear was electric.

Another Ares kid slammed his shield into him causing him to stumble backwards. He managed not to lose his balance. His shield arm felt numb and he knew he was losing. There was no way he could win this battle. He wasn't Superman.

One of the girls lunged forward to jab at him, but he blocked it with his sword. Just as he did that, Clarisse slammed the point of her spear right into his sword arm. He screamed in pain as the electricity shot across his body.

Crumpling to the ground, he was amazed that he was still alive.

"No maiming," he muttered to the ground.

"Guess I lost my dessert privilege," Clarisse snorted.

The Ares kids roared in laughter. He could sense them approaching him ready to actually kill him. Where was Chiron when he needed him? Actually, where was _Percy_ when he needed him? Had there been times before when kids killed other kids at Camp Half-Blood?

Clarisse seemed to sense his thoughts. "You're not going to die from an arm wound, you weak idiot. Can't handle a little pain, Nico di Angelo? What a wimp!"

A foot came slamming into his gut, and Nico reeled backwards. He clutched his stomach in pain as someone kicked his head. His brain seemed to rattle inside his head, and his ears rang. He felt like he'd just been run over by a truck, but still had managed to survive. It seemed like a miracle. With every second that passed, more and more blood seeped out of his arm wound. He felt his energy level dip.

"Wimp!" laughed the Ares kids. "Pathetic newbie."

Nico struggled to his knee, grabbing his wounded arm with the other. The evil faces of the Ares kids loomed in the darkness, smiling down evilly on him. They looked like lions ready to pounce on one deer. Poor deer.

"Nico!" came Annabeth's voice from just down the creek. She shimmered into appearance holding some sort of baseball cap in her hand. "Hey! No maiming! You're going to kill him!"

"Stay away!" Nico was surprised his voice came out strong and firm. It silenced the daughter of Athena. And the children of Ares.

_It's now or never_, he thought.

"Serve me!" he bellowed in his loudest voice. He concentrated on Hades' realm, the stories about the fallen spirits of the dead serving Hades when he needed help. He concentrated on the skeletons and bones of the dead warriors. He focused on making the dead undead.

The ground cracked around him. Out of the cracks, skeleton hands emerged. The terrified children of Ares hopped back a step, even Clarisse.

Nico focused on the darkness and the light, the re-lighting of the dead. And when he was done, six skeletons surrounded him, all Greek hoplites. They held their shields stiffly in front of them, their spears bristling overtop of the shields.

"What is this?" Clarisse managed. "The... the—"

"Attack!" Nico ordered.

Immediately, the hoplites surged forward. Each of them chose a duelling partner except for two. Two attacked Clarisse. Within half a minute, the children of Ares had been subdued, and Clarisse's spear was broken in half. Electricity no longer coursed through the power of the weapon.

"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"

Before she could say anything further, the sounds of elated cheers and screaming approached. Ethan was racing toward the finish line, the Ares banner glittering in his hands as Luke, a couple of his siblings, and a couple of Apollo guys covering his flank. The Hephaestus guys couldn't get past the Apollo kids.

"A trick!" Clarisse exclaimed in a dazed expression. "It was a trick!"

They staggered after Ethan, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. The Apollo and Hermes cabins exploded into cheers, the Athena cabin joining with applause. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Ethan and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over. They'd won.

Nico was about to join the celebration when he heard the growling again.

Annabeth jogged up to him and immediately started examining his wound, her eyes wild with knowledge.

"Nico, are you okay?" She actually sounded like she cared. "Clarisse just tore through your arm!"

"Shh!" Nico hissed. "Do you hear that?"

"What?"

They went silent. The growling was evident even with the cheering in the background.

"That sounds like a..." Annabeth trailed off.

The skeleton warriors were still there, all looking at him as if saying, "Who is our next target?" Despite the fact that he was freaked out, this was pretty awesome.

"Wolf?" Nico guessed.

Then Annabeth gasped. Nico did as well. Out of the bushes came eight demonic beasts with thick black fur and red eyes. They looked like wolves but were the size of a rhinoceros... each.

"Hellhounds!" Annabeth shouted.

Chiron got the warning too late. Just as the crowd heard her outcry, the beasts pounced.

"Nico!" another voice suddenly said. Nico whirled around to see a sprinting Percy Jackson. "Catch!"

The immortal son of Poseidon threw something, and it flashed through the air. As it got closer, Nico realized that it was a ballpoint pen, like those cheap things that could be found at the dollar store. He didn't see how this could be useful, but he trusted Percy enough to trust that this was a weapon of some sort.

He caught the pen with his numb shield arm and popped the cap. Spinning around, he slashed the pen at the hellhound that was just about to pounce on him and eat his flesh. Just as he thought, the pen had elongated into a dark sword.

The hellhound's essence was sucked into the sword as it disintegrated. Somersaulting forward, he killed the hellhound that had jumped at Annabeth even though the daughter of Athena was ready. Each of the other skeletons took care of their beasts.

"Di immortales!" shouted Luke. "Those were hellhounds from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... they're not supposed to..."

"Someone summoned them," Percy said. "Someone inside the camp."

Ethan came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.

"How did you know, Percy?"

"It's all Nico's fault!" Clarisse yelled. "You all saw what he did! He's a child of the Underworld."

"My instincts have always been sharp, Ethan." Percy looked harrowingly at the dead hellhounds. "It saved Nico's life tonight."

"The skeletons, Nico," Luke muttered. "Were they... Did you...?"

Suddenly, a dark light began emitted from overtop of Nico's head. He seemed to notice it just as everyone else had. Clarisse had said before that he summoned the skeletons and was therefore a child of the Underworld, a child of Hades. Now it was confirmed.

Overtop of Nico's head was a gleaming image of a three-headed dog on a black background. The symbol was clear: Cerberus, guard of the entrance to the Underworld.

Turning to the skeletons, Nico said, "You are relieved of duty."

They fell into piles of bone which sank back down into the earth. Most likely back down to the Underworld.

Percy stepped forward and went on one knee. Slowly, everyone seemed to follow. Even the Ares cabin knelt, though they didn't seem so pleased to do it. They were all stunned as Percy announced loudly and clearly to the campers of Camp Half-Blood,

"Hail, Nico di Angelo, son of the Lord and King of the Underworld. Hades. God of the Dead and Riches."

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	7. The Beginning of a Horrible Quest

**I literally have nothing to say than the usual.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

The next morning, Nico moved into the Big House.

Percy had immediately began setting out plans for a thirteenth cabin, and the way that the sky was thundering, it didn't sound like Zeus was very happy with it.

But Nico didn't care about that. He realized that with his powers, he'd scared the campers into shock. Nico could tell why. The name Hades just screamed death and darkness, which sickeningly reminded them that they were demigods and could die at any given moment. Plus the fact that a horde of rogue hellhounds had invaded camp, inside of the boundaries of Camp Half-Blood, which were supposed to be protected by Thalia's spirit, probably scared the wits out of them.

Nico remembered Annabeth telling him the story just hours before the Capture the Flag game. It was a truly aggravating story. She told him that she was quite angry with his father, and she had every right to. It explained her newly cold attitude. The same went for Luke.

Just when things couldn't possibly get worse, they did. Nico sadly went on with his activities, though wherever he went there seemed to be a lack of campers. Silena suddenly became skittish around him with the pegasi, and the Demeter cabin hated him more than ever. The Hermes kids stopped telling jokes around him and stopped trying to steal his things while the Apollo kids always stopped and stared at him when he passed as if he were some sort of irritating pest.

Ethan was pretty much the only one that still hung around him aside from Percy and Chiron. They worked on sword training together (just him and Ethan), and it seemed as though the son of Nemesis was the only one that understood.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I know what it's like to be different."

_Different._ Nico hated the word. Before, he'd been like any of the other kids at school. Despite the fact that Bianca had tried not to make friends, Nico had found himself a few friends, though many of the bullies kept targeting the "Mythomagic nerd."

Nico didn't want to be different. Most of all, he was angry at his father for being his father. Why couldn't he be the son of just a regular Olympian? Why the Lord of the Dead, who wasn't even an Olympian?! Or what about glorious Zeus. From Thalia's stories, he wouldn't mind having a sister as awesome as that.

Who was he kidding? No one would ever replace Bianca. Maybe there would be some other child of Hades out there. Maybe he or she could replace _part_ of the gaping hole in his chest. Bianca would never be completely replaced, though.

He had kept the Stygian iron sword, though. Percy told him that the sword's history was dark and that its name was Skiaspathi (_skee-ah-spah-thee_), a saber of darkness and the Death Essence. In English, that was Shadowblade or Shadowsaber. A fitting name for a dark sword such as this. He didn't expect it to be something like "Hellfire."

Percy'd also given him an old shield. Despite its faded color, it was Celestial Bronze. Nico had never believed that a shield could look so beautiful when dull. It was probably the designing on the front of the shield. On the front were carvings of the events of the Trojan War. Nico knew that the shield's magic inscribed each of the certain events that occurred. It was the shield of Hector, Prince of Troy.

Whenever Nico tapped the center of the shield, it shrank back down into a watch. All he needed to do to activate it was to his the START button on the side.

When Percy had given him the shield, he'd looked secretive about it, as if there was more to the story than just that. Nico couldn't remember the exact details about the Trojan War aside from the sides the gods fought on. He often did imitations with his Mythomagic deck: Athena, Poseidon and Hera against Apollo, Ares, Aphrodite and Artemis.

The Greeks always won. At least, when he played as them.

Even Clarisse kept her distance. Nico guessed that she was probably still bitter about her spear, and was probably a little afraid of his powers. Despite that, she continued scowling at him from a distance. He kind of wished she'd attacked him instead of letting him stand there alone.

That night, when he went to bed, he had a horrible nightmare.

He was in the Underworld. He could tell immediately.

Spread over the massive kingdom were the many different places that the dead could go to. The largest and closest was the Fields of Asphodel. It was a massive sprawl of empty fields that contained the largest body of souls.

The next largest was the Fields of Punishment. There were so many unspeakable horrors in there he could hardly imagine it. Suddenly, Nico felt as though his card game _was_ just a stupid card game just as Bianca had told him. That wasn't the part that scared him.

The smallest of the three was Elysium, the home of the heroes. Nico wondered if all of the great heroes had made their way into Elysium: Heracles, before he became a god; Achilles, Jason, Bellerophon, Perseus, Cadmus, Odysseus, Diomedes, and even more.

He found himself running forward, toward the gates of Hades' palace. For a second, he'd been wondering if he'd actually get to see his father's palace, but the vision flashed and all he could see was Hades and his throne in the middle of darkness.

The god's eyes were dark and harsh, but they reminded him of Bianca. And the expression on his face he remembered seeing in a mirror every single day of his life that he could remember.

"You are a disappointment!" hissed Hades, which wasn't exactly what Nico was hoping for. The words stung. "You let your sister '_die_' because you aren't brave enough to face monsters on your own. You had to rely on an immortal demigod. What a pathetic excuse for a child! And you still play with those useless cards."

Nico couldn't help himself. "It's wasn't my fault!" he roared back. "Percy held me back. I would have killed Echidna on my own. Then Bianca wouldn't be dead!"

"She isn't truly dead you incompetent fool," said the resentful god. "She is in Zeus' grasp. If you want to prove your worth, take her from Olympus alive. Now leave!"

He felt a sudden pull in his back, and as if a cord was pulling him away, he was yanked from the throne. In a whirl, he was standing on sandy dunes in a city much different than New York. It was more spread out with hills and palm trees dotting the landscape.

_Do you see how futile your attempt is, demigod?_ rasped a voice from underground, a voice deep, dark and powerful. _What does your father care for you? He would rather see his daughter succeed than you. You can fight him. You can fight the Olympians, who choose to take your sister without justice or mercy. Your father doesn't care about you. No one does._

Lightning flashed in the sky, and the water pounded against the sandy shore. Anger pulsed in Nico's veins and with a bloodcurdling cry, he shot up in his bed.

His door cracked open and a pair of blue eyes peered in.

"Hey, Nico," came Luke's voice.

"Luke? What are you doing here?"

"Mr. D wants to see you."

Nico stiffened. "You mean Mr. D, the camp director?"

"He wants to... well, you'll see. Just come out. There's something we need to discuss."

Nervously, Nico got dressed. The tone that Luke was using didn't sound promising. It almost seemed like he was in trouble or something. Nevertheless, he came outside onto the porch where Percy, Chiron and Mr. D sat around a table all playing pinochle. Chiron was winning, as usual.

"Nico," Percy greeted. The immortal demigod's voice sounded parched as if he had just heard some bad news that he wished not to tell.

The son of Hades took a seat and glanced out at the sky. A huge mass of storm clouds were headed right for camp. Around it, the sky was grey and gave him a cold feeling. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't uncomfortable.

"That doesn't look too promising," he muttered.

"It doesn't rain here unless we want it to," Luke said.

"Are you sure? Because that huge mass of storm clouds is approaching pretty quickly."

"Bad weather will skirt around the camp's boundaries," Chiron said.

Percy, on the other hand, looked unsure. Nico decided to trust _his_ judgement. Percy was the one who'd created the camp in the first place. Chiron was probably just invited to the camp after Percy created it.

Even so, Nico realized that what Chiron had said was true. Normally, bad weather would just pass right around the camp. It would never be overcast. The weather at camp was always nice and bright. He didn't feel comfortable with _that_ feeling.

At the volleyball pit, the Apollo kids were playing volleyball, all of them showing off. They spiked and hit the ball pretty hard. The Demeter and Dionysus kids were out in the strawberry fields working with the plants. But he could tell every single one of them was eyeing the storm anxiously.

Luke leaned against the railing, and Nico took his real first look at the god of wine.

Dionysus was a lot pudgier than he'd expected. His face was chubby, he had a red nose like Rudolph the reindeer, and curly hair so black it looked like purple. His eyes were watery and bloodshot, like he'd had too much to drink.

"Well," said the god sourly. "If it isn't a child of Hades. Don't expect me to bow to you just because your father's the lord of ghosts. Ghosts aren't even scary. I've talked to many, Nicolas di Angelo."

"Hades is the Lord of the Dead, not ghosts."

"Same thing!"

"There's a difference."

"Are you telling me I'm wrong?"

Nico took a glance into Mr. D's eyes which glinted with a purplish fire. The story of Dionysus turning all of those sailors into dolphins flashed in his mind, and he imagined being stuck in a dolphin costume for the rest of his life.

"No," Nico replied.

Dionysus curled his lip in contempt. "You better be." The whole time, the god hadn't taken his eyes off his cards.

Percy laid his hand down and stood up tersely. He turned to Nico and paced along the deck toward them. "Nico, you realize what it happening, don't you?"

An answer came to Nico's mind. "Something to do with my sister... she died... but she... she and the Olympians..."

Luke didn't seem to know what was going on, and straightened in interest.

"Go on," Percy said.

"I have to go west to my father. He'll have the answers I need."

"Oh, yes. Because the gods can interfere with their childrens' quests." Dionysus laughed. Picking up two cards from his deck, he flipped them in his hand. Two black jacks. A sign of unhappiness. "And besides, Skull Face wouldn't like you anyway. You'd be a disappointment."

"Dionysus, stop!" Percy ordered, his voice angry and gruff.

The god amazingly shut up, though he glared at the son of Poseidon. "Watch your words, Percy. But nevertheless, if this son of Hades is still here when I come back from an emergency meeting on Olympus, I will send him to his father the most painless way I know."

He twisted the Jack of spades, and it folded into a plastic rectangle. It looked like a security pass. Then he snapped his fingers and disappeared into thin air only leaving the smell of fresh wine grapes behind.

"All three of you. Sit."

Chiron laid down a winning had he'd never gotten to use. Nevertheless, the three of them sat down, and waited for the centaur to continue. For an odd reason, Nico felt as though there was someone standing nearby, like a presence that was invisible.

Chiron's eyes bored into Nico analytically. "What did you make of the hellhounds?"

Nico hesitated. He wanted to say that they didn't scare him, but he didn't feel like lying. He was tired from the night before and wanted to sleep rather than worry about his sister who wasn't exactly dead.

"Hellhounds are monsters that my father can control, right?" Nico picked up one of Percy's cards and began playing with it. He remembered Hades' outburst about how stupid Mythomagic was, and the deck in his pocket suddenly felt heavy. "Those are from the Underworld. And somehow they were in camp. They passed the boundaries."

Percy shook his head. "Someone let them in."

He looked up at the immortal demigod. "What do you mean 'Someone let them in'?"

"Someone summoned the hellhounds into camp," Luke answered. "Someone in this camp had the nerve to summon half a dozen hellhounds just to kill you. You must be a real threat to them. And with what seems is coming up soon..." Luke gave Percy a pointed look.

"I can't elaborate on it much more," Percy said. "The last time I tried to directly interfere, I got the pirate Francis Drake stuck on Ogygia, the island of Calypso. I had to search for Hermes before I could go fetch him just as I did with Odysseus."

"First of all, directly interfere with what?" asked Nico. "Second off... Calypso? Isn't she supposed to be imprisoned on an island."

"Yes, but that's another story. What is important now is I'm offering you a quest, Nico. Both Chiron and I are."

"A quest? What's the quest?"

Percy and Chiron exchanged a look. Chiron turned to him first. "Well, my child. The details are the hardest part. Even I am not completely certain—"

"Zeus thinks Hades has something of his, though I'm not sure what," Nico suddenly blurted. "Why else would he capture my sister for leverage?"

"Wait, I thought you said your sister was dead?" asked Luke.

"No. I had a dream... Hades said that I was a fool for not understanding. Bianca was captured by Zeus for leverage because of something Hades has. Zeus wanted to kill one of us so that Hades only had a bargain with one of his children. The other would be dead, and Hades is the most just god of them all. He follows his own rule. The dead must stay dead. But that doesn't explain why Zeus retreated."

"Probably my father," Percy grumbled. "Some days he's nice and forgiving and others he's ruthless and cold hearted. Once almost tried to drown me until he remembered I could breathe underwater. When I was returning Odysseus, that is."

"But that small action opens up a window. I can save my sister!"

"How are you going to do that?" asked Luke. "You don't even know what was stolen. I have a hunch..."

"To be precise: a lightning bolt," Chiron finished.

"You don't mean..."

"Yes. Zeus' Master Bolt, the most powerful weapon ever created, has been stolen under the gods' very noses at the last Winter Solstice. I fear difficult times may be approaching."

"This is the start of something new, Nico," Percy said. "And when we're saying Master Bolt, we're not talking about six hundred damage. We're talking about the power to wipe out humanity in a two-foot-long cylinder of high-end Celestial bronze. This has _never_ happened before."

"Mythomagic's stupid anyways," he replied. Despite having played it before, his time at Camp Half-Blood made him realize that Mythomagic was a stupid fantasy game that had little to no resemblance to the real monstrosity that was the Greek world. "And let me guess. Zeus blamed Hades?"

"Not at first," Chiron said. "Naturally, he blamed Poseidon first, but eventually Poseidon proved he didn't have it by letting Zeus check every square inch of his realm... and with Percy's council. Then Hades was the next option. He knows that Hades would not abide by the divine laws that he set up for the gods just as he'd taken Persephone against her will. After learning that you and Bianca were still alive, he became furious and set out to kill one and capture the other. It partially worked. He has the leverage. You just have to get the bolt from Hades... if he even has it." Chiron fixated his eyes on the horizon. "Pray that Hades has it, for if it is not returned to Zeus by the Summer Solstice, Bianca di Angelo will die and Zeus will invade the Underworld."

Right at that moment, the storm passed overhead and it began raining. The campers and nature spirits all looked up stunned into the sky. Nico knew he'd brought this storm to Camp Half-Blood, and he was furious.

"So what? I just go to the Underworld and say, 'Hey, Hades! I learned that you were my dad! So, give me the lightning bolt so that I can free Bianca all for myself! Thanks'?"

"A prophecy," Percy said. "Not _the_, which you will learn soon. _A_ prophecy from the Oracle upstairs in the attic. We'll wait for you down here."

Nico stood up defiantly. "All right. Oracle in the attic." And he marched upstairs.

* * *

Annabeth, Nico and Luke stood at the bus stop waiting for transportation.

"I still can't believe you were there the entire time," Nico told Annabeth. "Since when did you have an invisibility cap?"

"My mother gave it to me for my twelfth birthday," she said. "And of course I was there. There's no way I can miss an opportunity for a quest. Luke and I have been waiting for a long time. It's what we train for."

"What? You train yourself to go on dangerous quests to get yourself killed? That doesn't sound like a smart idea."

"We want to do something, Nico," Luke said. "There's nothing more aggravating than sitting in camp going, 'I wish I could go on a quest.' It gets boring just being in there all the time. And the truth is... I want to go and save Thalia one day. Percy said that he would find a way. He just needed the right timing or something. He said we'd be alive when it happens."

Nico knew that Luke and Annabeth were the ones to arrive at camp with Thalia. He just didn't know the extent of their relationship. The more he thought about it, the more he felt alone without Bianca. He felt as though he didn't fit in anywhere. No one would accept him because he was the son of the Lord of the Dead.

"What's wrong, Nico?" Annabeth asked.

He realized he was scowling. "Nothing."

"Is it about your sister?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "Not at all."

Before the two could ask him anything further, the bus arrived, and he was grateful. It wasn't like the two would understand anyways. They were just here because they wanted to get out of Camp Half-Blood for once. They didn't care about him. They didn't even want to talk to him after learning about his parentage.

That was fine with him. His point was to find Hades, demand the Master Bolt, and return it to Zeus so he could have his sister back. There was nothing more to it.

When they got on the bus, all three of them remarked the new shoes that Ethan had given to Nico as a present. They were blue basketball shoes with a white trim. Chiron had told him that using those shoes would be dangerous as going into the air was like going into Zeus' territory. He would be crazy to do that. So, he gave the shoes to Luke, which Luke graciously accepted.

Rain poured outside, and Nico tried to remember some advice Percy had given him.

_Lots of demigods make the mistake of assuming the gods' personalities by their children_, he said. _When demigods first see me, they think Poseidon is a powerful, kind and gentle ruler of the seas. He _can_ be, but he can also be ruthless. Beware of water._

_Annabeth and Luke will help you greatly even when it doesn't seem so. Watch their backs and they'll watch yours._

Nico still didn't trust them, despite what Percy said. He didn't want to admit it out loud, though.

The bus hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and that's when things went wrong. Just as they entered the tunnel, the sound of rainfall disappearing, a huge crack appeared in the side of the Lincoln Tunnel.

"Uh, Annabeth," Nico gulped. "Does this happen often in New York?"

Annabeth turned to look out the window and went wide-eyed. "Luke! Look! The architecture of this tunnel is supposed to withstand the water pressure from outside!"

"Water pressure..." Luke turned to Nico. "She means that this is probably an attack from Poseidon!"

"Here, take my hat!"

Annabeth took her hat and slammed it onto Nico's head before he could ask why. And then the wall broke.

Water rushed in from the crack and slammed into cars. Vapor trails evaporated away from the water itself and began swirling towards the bus. The driver, looking back to see what happened, screamed when the glass near the three of them shattered.

Nico immediately took off whilst the vapor clouds solidified into weird looking water creatures. They had blue skin, but otherwise looked human. They glared harshly at Annabeth and Luke and each brought out a double-handed longsword made out of what looked to be sapphire.

"Where is the son of Hades?" they growled.

Freaked out, the bus driver hit the gas pedal, and the bus lurched forward. The only problem was that they were headed down the highway into New Jersey. How was that a problem? Because three deadly-looking servants of Poseidon were attacking his friends and by the time they reached the next stop, his friends would be dead.

_His friends_.

Well, it was now or never. Besides, it was wiser to have help, though he would never forgive them for treating him like an outcast.

He jerked the wheel from the bus driver, who yelped, "Hey! Hey—whoa!"

Somehow, they managed to exit the highway and began plowing through traffic lights without any care for the law. He hoped that no one on the roads were seriously injured, but continued fighting for the wheel. The water creatures were getting disoriented and were being thrown against both windows.

Eventually, they managed to get somewhere in rural New Jersey, which weirdly was right along the Hudson River. On the other side of the river were the tall buildings of Manhattan Island. Being stronger than he was, the bus driver began gaining more control over the steering wheel and directing the bus towards the river.

Looking into the woods to the left, Nico made his decision quickly.

Body-checking the bus driver, he turned the wheel towards the forest and hit the emergency brake. The bus swerved and nearly toppled over on its side, but managed to stay upright. Immediately, the bus driver exited the bus followed by a horde of passengers and tourists. Only Annabeth, Luke and the three water dudes were left.

Nico took off Annabeth's cap, to the chagrin of Annabeth and Luke, and shouted, "Hey! Water bros! Over here! You're looking for me?"

They were nothing like he'd ever seen before. They were actually indescribable. Their complexions swirled with sea water, and underwater plants morphed all around them. They looked like seaweed monsters one second, and then the next second they looked like hurricane figures.

The only thing was that they definitely looked solid.

He pulled out Skiaspathi and uncapped the pen. As it elongated into a dark Stygian iron sword, the water creatures rushed him. If he had been alone, he probably would have died. As stupid and brave as his idea was, it had almost cost him his life. One of the water creatures leaped on him and water enveloped his face as if the creature was spitting water. Nico couldn't breathe.

Luckily, Luke stabbed that monster with his sword, though he was attacked by another water creature. Meanwhile, Annabeth was piggybacking the last water creature, which was screaming at her to get off.

Luke quickly finished his creature, and Annabeth and Nico tag-teamed the last one.

Dropping to her feet, Annabeth exhaled in relief. Her response wasn't anything like that, however. "Why didn't you go, Nico? You had my hat."

"You think I would leave you here? Those things probably would have drowned you."

"We could have handled it!"

"Uh, Annabeth. I don't think that that's the main concern. We technically just destroyed the Lincoln Tunnel... inadvertently. And Nico probably saved our lives by distracting them."

"I know but—"

Luke gave her a hard look, and she immediately shut up. Her face was sort of red as well, but Nico didn't want to point that out right in front of Luke. That would have been awkward. Especially considering the backstory of Thalia. It didn't sound like Luke and Thalia were just friends.

Suddenly, Nico's hair stood on end. He felt as though a thousand volts of electricity was coursing through him. He cursed and said, "Astrapí."

There was no hesitation amongst the three of them. Leaving everything that they'd packed on board, they bolted out of the bus. Nico forgot to cap his sword, and a photographer had managed to take a picture of him before he could put it away. The flash of the camera seemed interconnected with the lightning bolt.

As soon as the camera flashed, lightning streaked out of the sky and struck the bus immediately destroying it and everything inside. Thunder reverberated in the sky, and the group of tourists screamed. Many were re-dialing 9-1-1.

Nico, Luke and Annabeth didn't pay attention to any of that. Nico took one last glance at the bus remembering the eerie feeling of being purposefully drowned. It was brief, and in the heat of action, but he could feel the air being sucked out of him. In a way, it reminded him of Percy. Someone who could take your breath away... literally.

Then the three of them delved into the forest.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	8. Medusa With an EM

**I know that so far the story is moving quite slowly compared to what you might think. Well, it will pick up its pace soon. The Lightning Thief portion of this story should be complete in at least seven more chapters. The rest of the stories will go by quicker than you'd think, and then we'll be on to the Heroes of Olympus story. However, I may not write that story until after I've read The Blood of Olympus. That also means that I will be updating A Lonely Echo and Living Damnation more. Those are the two stories that haven't gotten much attention, and I feel like I don't have any minimum expectations for those so they may be easier to write. Then again, with these chapters, I write them and I don't bother editing at all... well... we'll see.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Percy walked alongside a girl on the banks of the Hudson River. The New Jersey side, that is.

She glanced at the city of New York and frowned bitterly. "There is so much pollution. Mortals are ignorant to be ruining the world like this. I remember when we could actually see the stars from this exact spot. Do you remember that night?"

"I do."

"Thy voice sounds ragged."

"It is, Zoë."

"What for?"

Percy halted them and looked out into the distance. The moon gleamed high in the sky, Artemis' chariot elegantly carving its way through the sky. Lights beamed from the city of New York, and overall, it was a peaceful night. No one would guess that a huge war was about to occur. To say that even Zoë was worried was worrying for him.

"You know."

"You know Zeus, Percy. He is so stubborn that he can hardly stand to think of anything of his being stolen. Back when Vlad, that cruel impaler, managed to even sneak onto Olympus a war nearly started between him and Hades. Thou cannot be certain of the king's motives."

"I just worry," Percy sighed. "Nico is a child of Hades. You know what they're like, Zoë."

"The girl would have been better," Zoë sniffed. "But one thing Zeus and Poseidon do know is that taking Bianca would gain more leverage than if the boy were taken. Even Hades understands Bianca is worth more."

"Don't say that, Zoë."

"Don't hide away from the truth."

Percy couldn't help but grin. It was just like Zoë to be doubtful of every guy that existed despite the fact that Percy'd tried teaching her to judge them by their actions. It was true enough that Nico hadn't done much to help his sister, but the son of Hades had much potential. His powers were already growing back, and his skill with a sword was coming back to him.

Percy remembered the 40s when he would teach Nico and Bianca how to sword fight. Nico was the better fighter, but Bianca was the more agile one. She would do well as a Hunter.

"Tell you what, Zoë. When Nico rescues Bianca from Zeus' grasp, you can take her as a temporary Hunter. Give her a try of what it is like to be one. If she wants to become a Hunter, you can keep her. If she decides that she wants to experience Camp Half-Blood, she goes to camp."

"Art thou sure the boy can save his sister?"

"He's got a pretty witty girl with him. Remember Annabeth?"

"Ah, yes. The blonde-headed girl. She still has a lot to learn."

"She does. But for who she is now, I think she's a well-developed thinker. Think about Bianca and suggest the idea to Artemis."

"Why would the Hunters accept a girl who would rather leave than stay?"

"Just suggest it to Artemis."

Zoë sighed. "Very well." She looked around, as if trying to spot anyone that might have been spying on them. Then, leaning close to him, she whispered, "You know what is happening, am I correct? The prophecy and all? It is quite clear, and if thou cannot understand thy brain should be analyzed for massive failure."

Looking deep into her eyes, Percy understood immediately. A vision seemed to play in her eyes as he stared, a vision of destruction, chaos and war. Massive beings fought against one another with lightning flashing in the sky, water and waves churning around them, and creatures surrounded in the ghosts and bones of the dead.

"The Titans are rising again," Percy said gravely. "And Bianca, Nico or Thalia will have the power to either help them destroy Olympus, or help the gods preserve it."

Zoë gave him a brief hug. "Be careful in thy journey. I have a feeling that it shall be perilous."

"I promise that I'll survive. For you if no one else."

"A dangerous promise to make."

"Yet my life has been a dangerous one to live, Zoë." He looked sadly back at New York. "Perhaps New York is a sign. Maybe what is natural and beautiful has had its time on the world. A new light shall emerge and tear the naturals away. Mortals are violent. Who is to say they are not like the Titans? A Golden Age to be remembered."

"Perhaps you are right. But we must do anything we can to stop it. If there has been anything that I have learned since you found me, it is that the Titans were cruel and vicious. Despite the poor choices the Olympians make, they are far better than the Titans."

Percy pulled the hood up on his hooded sweater. His faded skinny jeans wrinkled as he began to walk away from Zoë. "I hope so too."

"Make sure the boy prevents the war," she called. "Do whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes?" he said. "I promise you that."

And then he delved into the woods, a helmet shimmering out of thin air.

Line Break

"It's ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM!" Nico argued.

"I don't care what it is," Luke growled. "We've been walking out here for what has seemed like hours, it's a place with good smelling burgers, and I'm hungry."

Nico glared at him. "Maybe we should figure out what kind of place it is before we saunter in and intoxicate ourselves with burgers and fries. Doesn't that name sound a little odd to you?"

"We all have dyslexia, Nico," Annabeth said in an exasperated tone. "We'll never be able to read the neon sign. And besides, if we go through the many possibilities that it could be, it would takes us far too long. We would be extremely tired and hungry."

"I'm just saying that we should probably check out what it is first before—"

"Are you not hungry?!" Luke exclaimed. "What is wrong with you?"

"There's nothing wrong with me! Is there anything wrong with you?"

"I hope there's a snack bar in there," Annabeth said wistfully.

"Don't you have this feeling?!" Nico exploded. The other two suddenly went quiet. Nico looked back at the place. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. "I sense... death. Sad, terrifying death."

The two of them shared a wary look.

"What kind of death?" Annabeth asked.

He frowned uncertainly. "I don't know. I can't tell that kind of stuff. I just sense death. But..." He sighed in defeat. "If you guys really want to go in, we'll go."

Of course they didn't believe him. He shouldn't have expected them to believe him. Ever since they'd realized he was a son of Hades, they had shunned him away as if he were some disgusting pest. He felt bitter, and they would never be forgiven; but Percy believed in them. And for some reason, he believed in Percy. It was almost as if he'd met Percy before. He just couldn't remember exactly.

"We can go," Annabeth said to Luke. "Just keep your eye out for anything suspicious."

The front lot was full of statues: cement animals, cement children, and even a cement satyr.

Nico remembered the satyrs that were at Camp Half-Blood. They were half man and half goat. Apparently they were supposed to head to schools all around the United States to search for demigods to recruit to camp. Camp Half-Blood was the only safe place for demigods. Nico wondered if Percy was the reason why no satyrs ever found him.

After they knocked on the door, a tall woman opened the door. She wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all he could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so Nico imagined she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady.

Her accent sounded vaguely Middle-Eastern. She said, "Children! What are you doing out here at such a time? Where are your parents?"

Nico glanced at the other two, and before he could say anything, Luke began to speak: "We're orphans. The orphanage we were at... well, it wasn't a nice place to be. We left and we have nowhere to go. It was back up in Westport, Connecticut, and we're desperately hungry."

"Oh, you poor dears!" Despite her accent, it didn't sound like her native tongue was Middle-Eastern. Her voice seemed to ignite a whole bunch of Greek myths in his head. "Come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em."

"So this place is..."

"My... ah... _Garden Gnome Emporium_," she said. "Yes. Now, go straight through to the back of the warehouse. There is a dining area."

They thanked her and walked in.

"Does she remind you of anyone?" Nico muttered. "Any Greek monster?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Annabeth said back. "Why do you have to be so rude?"

"I don't know. She just... reminds me of Greek myths. There's this aura to her. Like... like she isn't human."

"Let's get some food first," Luke said in a hushed tone. "Then we can get the Hades out of here."

The warehouse was filled with many more statues. All of them were life-sized: more children, and now even adults. It seemed so eerie that they could all be categorized into two different categories: happy and unknowing, and terrified and horror-struck. Nico noticed that their eyes seemed to follow him wherever he went, but the smell of the burgers seemed to numb his senses.

Impulsively, he led the group to the dining area, and they all sat down at the steel picnic tables. To the side were a girl, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Disgustingly bad for the human body, but extremely delicious for the taste buds.

"Have anything you want," Aunty Em said.

"Um," Nico said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."

The other two sent him glares, but Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."

"Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said. Nico noticed Aunty Em stiffen and he wondered if Annabeth had done something wrong, but then she relaxed just as quickly. He froze for a second, wondering if it was just his imagination. But Nico relaxed just as she had.

"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful grey eyes, child."

Nico got up to get a soda, but noticed that she knew Annabeth's name, even though they had never introduced themselves. He ignored it though, his craving for food much greater than he'd previously thought.

Aunty Em disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Time flew like the wind, and she'd brought them all plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.

Luke chomped down on his burger as if he were trying to murder it with his teeth. It wasn't the most pleasant sight to see.

Annabeth ate her fries peacefully.

Nico slurped at his shake, but often turned to look at the statues. He had a feeling that these weren't what they seemed to be. There was just something wrong about this place. He knew it.

Aunty Em ate nothing. She sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat, all without taking off her headdress, not even for cooking. Nico felt so unsettled by that, he actually got up to check out the statues. He noticed a girl with a terrified expression written across her face, as if she were startled... or paralyzed.

"So, you sell gnomes," Nico said, having a thought lingering in his head.

"Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."

"A lot of business on this road?"

"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."

Nico looked at the girl's Easter basket. The basket looked ridiculously real. Too real. A voice whispered in his head, _Death. She stones us to death._

He turned and, feigning confusion, jabbed his thumb at the statue.

"Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."

He knew the exact questions that would tell him his answer. "Do you make these statues yourself? Did you have any siblings or friends to help you?"

"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company." The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that Nico almost felt sorry for her.

The other two were too engrossed in their food to realized what was going on.

"And where is your family from?" Nico asked.

"Saudi Arabia," she responded.

"How did your sisters pass on?"

"It's a terrible story," she said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Nicolas, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."

"Nicolas di Angelo," Annabeth murmured. "Interesting name, Nico."

"You have such beautiful grey eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen grey eyes like those."

She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth snapped to attention and reeled away.

"Annabeth. Luke." Nico poked the two to try and grab their attention. "We should be heading off now. We obviously need to get to the city. There'll be more places for us to stay."

"Your eyes," Aunty Em murmured. She was looking at him. "They do not look familiar... but that glint. I must get a closer look."

Then she began to unravel the headdress. For a moment, Nico was paralyzed before the other two looked up at Aunty Em. He snapped back into focus and immediately pushed the two off the steel picnic bench.

"Don't look!" he yelled.

He shut his eyes, pulled out Shadowblade, and pointed his weapon at Aunty Em, also known as Medusa.

"Don't look at her! She'll turn you to stone!"

"Medusa!" Annabeth realized.

"You just noticed?"

Then Nico concentrated, and the ground began to rumble. He felt his energy sapping out of him quickly, but managed to hold his concentration. Around him, he felt at least a dozen skeletal warriors raise their shields and swords.

"A child of Hades," Medusa rasped. Nico could hear the snakes on her head hissing. "It has been a long time since I have seen a child of Hades. The last time... oh he made a wonderful statue. I thank his incompetence and stupidity for that. Aha!"

Nico tapped the watch on his wrist, and his shield sprung up. His nostrils flared in anger. "Well I'm not stupid like my half-brother."

"Perhaps not, but you are young and inexperienced. I know that for sure, Nicolas di Angelo. Why don't you tell your friends the truth? Where _did_ you come from? Tell them how you and your sister aren't broken oaths by Hades. Or will you not because you feel unaccepted. Annabeth, your friend, sees you as below her because Hades killed her friend, the daughter of Zeus, just as how her mother, Athena, saw me below her because I made love with Poseidon in her temple."

"Don't listen to her!" Annabeth shouted from somewhere to his left.

Nico remembered the darkness in the room and the lack of light. He felt it radiating off of him like sound waves. It seemed to vibrate his skull. He focused on all of the darkness and death in the warehouse. He focused on the vengeful spirits of those who had perished here in New Jersey, and let it all out in a blast of pure, dark anger.

The skeletal warriors shattered like glass, and Nico charged forward. Feeling his way using the shadows, he leaped forward and stabbed forward. He hit thin air. Just then, something grabbed him from the side and he felt claws dig into his skin. Yelping in pain, he swung Shadowblade wildly to the side and heard a sudden shlock!, then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern—the sound of a monster disintegrating.

Something fell to the ground next to his foot, and it took all of his willpower not to look. He could feel warm ooze soaking into his sock, little dying snake heads tugging at his shoelaces.

"Oh, that's disgusting," Nico said.

Annabeth came up next to him, her eyes fixed on the sky. She was holding Medusa's black veil. She said, "Don't move."

Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.

"Are you okay?" she asked Nico, her voice trembling.

"I'm fine," Nico replied. Looking at the wrapped up veil, he asked, "Why didn't... why didn't the head evaporate?"

Luke emerged and said, "Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."

"That's good to know."

The three of them stumbled around in the warehouse trying to find a way to double-wrap Medusa's head. They found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and used those. Plopping the head on the table where they'd eaten dinner, they sat silently, thinking about the events that had just passed.

Nico's heart raced in his chest. "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"

Annabeth flashed him an irritated look. "Poseidon, actually. Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to... make love... in my mother's temple, like she said. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. And Medusa used to be a priestess of Athena. That's a double strike. That's why Medusa kept remarking about my eyes."

"And me?"

"Children of Hades are rare," Luke said darkly. "The last major 'spawning' period was around the 20s and 30s of the 1900s. She probably likes sending Persephone the images of her husband's unfaithfulness."

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth asked.

"When we were looking for something to wrap Medusa's head in, I found Medusa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sales, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades' and Persephone's garden. By the way, I took a bill. It might help us when we get to Los Angeles." Luke pulled it out and handed it to Nico and Annabeth.

The billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California.

"Yeah, that will definitely come in handy," Annabeth said.

"We should get going," Nico said. "I don't want to be here any longer."

"What about the head?" Luke asked.

"Leave it." Nico wasn't sure if it was a feeling or just intuition. "Someone will throw it out eventually."

"This place is starting to creep me out," Annabeth agreed. "We'd better get going, Luke. We need a new plan."

Then the three of them rushed out of the warehouse.

Just as they left, a hooded figured emerged out of the shadows. The only part visible of him was his sarcastic smile. He walked over to the severed head of Medusa and picked the package up.

He went around to the back where Medusa's office was, found a box that was just the right size, packed up Medusa's head, and filled out a delivery slip:

Hades

Underworld

DOA Recording Studios

West Hollywood, California

With best wishes,

PERCY JACKSON & NICO DI ANGELO

Percy Jackson poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as he closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop!

The immortal demigod quirked his lip in a smile and said, "I hope you understand, Hades, that your son is more capable than you'd think."

Suddenly the moisture was torn out of the air, and Percy was gone.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


	9. St Louis and the Mile High City

**Vote on my poll please.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"The Gateway Arch is so beautiful," Annabeth marveled.

Luke agreed. "It is. I've never been to St. Louis before."

Nico nodded but said nothing. He watched as the sun shone high in the sky. He asked, "How come sometimes the sun is Apollo and sometimes it's Helios?"

Luke answered, "The Romans started it. They couldn't afford the sacrifices and turned Apollo into a sun god. Percy said that it started far before the Romans, but I'm not exactly sure what that means."

"The Trojans, Luke," Annabeth said rolling her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? The Trojans were the ancestors of the Romans. That's what Percy meant."

"Trojans," Nico mused. "Like the Trojan War. They lost to the Greeks... so I'm kind of surprised that the Romans could defeat the Greeks in warfare. And why did we suddenly change back to the Greek names of the gods after the Roman times?"

Annabeth and Luke shared an unknowing look.

"I don't know," Annabeth replied a little sourly.

Nico guessed she didn't like to be wrong.

After some silence, Annabeth started talking once again: "We have to go out and see the Gateway Arch."

Nico shook his head. "No! We have to get to Los Angeles as quickly as possible. To West Hollywood. Then we can take the Master Bolt before getting back to Camp Half-Blood."

"Well it doesn't matter if you're going or not. I'm going. So take this chance or leave it. We've got three hours until the train leaves for Denver."

Nico looked straight into Annabeth's determined eyes. There was no way that she would be backing down from this opportunity. There was no way that she would give up a chance to see a wonderful piece of architecture.

"All right," he grumbled. "Let's go."

* * *

The Arch was about a mile from the Amtrak station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. They slithered their way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other things from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling them interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Luke kept passing him jelly beans, so he was okay.

Luke looked uneasy looking around at the other people in the line. It kind of bothered Nico because he had a feeling that Luke could sense something wrong. Despite being careless back in New Jersey, Luke had a good sense of telling where monsters were. He'd helped them escape a rogue horde of dogfish-like creatures just before they boarded the Amtrak train.

"I have a feeling we shouldn't be here right now," Luke said to Annabeth. "There's something dangerous lurking here."

Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. She gave Luke a questioning look, and when he turned her face tinged pink a little. "What?"

"I feel like... like something's spying on us... _someone_'s spying on us."

The three of them looked around warily.

"Wait," Nico said interrupting the other two, "doesn't my dad have... you know... a hat like Annabeth's?"

"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth said. "Yeah. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."

"He was there?" Nico asked.

She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus—darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true..."

"It allows him to become darkness," Luke confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"

"He radiates fear and death?"

The three of them fell into a disconcerting silence, and Annabeth and Luke both stared at him.

Nico had never really thought about it before, but he wondered if he radiated death like his father. Did he have the same aura as his father? Before, he probably would have sounded crazy. He and Bianca were far from dark and deathly. Now... he wasn't so sure.

"Listen, Nico..." Luke started. "We really don't mean to offend you. It's just that... we aren't exactly on friendly terms with Hades. After what he did to Hades. The Furies were murderous last time. They were so nuts to kill Thalia that they killed a bunch of other monsters than were after Thalia."

"Hades even sent the Minotaur," Annabeth said shuddering. "We're sorry if we've offended you but..."

Looking into both of their eyes, he saw the sorrow and grief they felt for Thalia brimming at the edge of their eyelids. Thalia really meant a lot to them. He wondered what the entire story between them was. A part of him felt bitter, but that part was small. Most of his mind felt sorry for them. He remembered Bianca's death and how much it had affected him. He knew he could relate.

Especially because of the fact that neither one of them is dead.

Nico closed his eyes and reflected on that moment he stood next to Thalia's tree. He remembered the soul trapped inside of the tree neither dead nor alive. It was as if the soul were stuck in some sort of... limbo. The soul could not roam free in the world of the living nor could it stay in the depths of the world of the dead. Her story seemed so sad.

He would never get that kind of publicity, though. His story would forever be "The Son of Hades That Almost Brought the End of the World."

When the tiny little elevator car arrived, they got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. None of the guards said a word about the dog.

Nico had never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and his stomach wasn't exactly supportive of it as they went up, inside of the Arch.

"No parents?" the fat lady asked us.

She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp.

"They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings."

The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious.

Something about the lady's voice told him that "Sonny" wasn't the dog's name. He also became a little bit more nervous. Would Zeus blast him out of the Arch just because he was the son of Hades? Destroying a famous landmark to kill one boy?

At the top of the Arch, the observation deck looked like a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but Nico hated looking out of those windows. All of it just reminded him that Zeus had his sister in captivity. He was completely fine with heights... just... the memories weren't so good.

Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor.

She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but luckily for him the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

As the trio arrived at the exit, they saw that the elevator could fit just one more person. Being the only three at the exit, they looked amongst each other to determine who would be going down.

"We can handle it up here," Annabeth said to Luke. "You're the best fighter. You can handle yourself. It's better if we stay together."

Luke looked nervous, but he obliged and got into the elevator. The door slid shut and the car disappeared down the ramp. Now the only people left on the observation deck were Nico, Annabeth, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua.

Nico glanced back and, noticing the fat lady behind him, smiled uneasily. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth.

He glanced at Annabeth, his eyes wide in alarm. She hadn't seen it.

Before he could say anything, the Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at the two of them. It was then that Annabeth decided to turn around and pay attention. Nico's hand slipped into his pocket.

"Now, now, sonny," the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."

"Doggie!" said the little boy.

His parents pulled him back.

The Chihuahua bared his teeth at Nico, foam dripping from his black lips.

"Well, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist."

Nico put an arm across Annabeth's chest and pushed her back. He pulled Skiaspathi out and growled, "You."

"Nico! What in Athena's name is going on?"

The fat lady smiled evilly, and he could see that her teeth were actually fangs. She rolled her denim sleeves up revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. She looked exactly like she did just some days ago.

"Echidna!" shouted Nico. "And the Chimera."

Annabeth tensed behind him.

As the Chihuahua barked, it grew bigger and bigger and bigger. The bigger it got, the more the bark sounded like a roar.

The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster.

"It is an honor, Nico di Angelo," Echidna hissed cruelly. "Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero twice with one of my brood. You may have survived the first time with your friend, Percy Jackson. But there is no one here to save you now."

Bravely, Annabeth jumped in front of him. "You're wrong, Mother of Monsters. He's got me."

"A child of Athena," she cackled. "Use the wisdom your mother gave you. Let the son of Hades die. Isn't that what Hades had truly planned for the daughter of Zeus? To kill her no matter to cost? Let the son of Hades perish for his father's mistakes. That is what the gods are about, are they not?"

Annabeth hesitated, and the Chimera charged. Using all of his strength, Nico pulled Annabeth to the side as the Chimera gnashed its lion teeth. They ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors.

The two shared a quick glance and seemed to read each other's minds.

They burst around the Chimera on opposite sides to the other side of the deck and yelled simultaneously, "Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster than Nico would have thought possible.

Before either of them could attack, it opened its mouth, and fire came roaring out of its throat.

They both dove through the explosion as the carpet burst into flames. The heat was so intense, it nearly seared off Nico's eyebrows. Where they had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges.

"Great!" Annabeth shouted. "We just blowtorched a national monument!"

She pulled her knife out of her sleeve, and threw it into the Chimera's mouth. It stumbled back a little, a surprised expression written across its face. For a second, when it froze, Nico thought that the creature might have been caught with an extremely lucky throw from Annabeth; but it suddenly whirled around and the snake's fangs sank into his thigh.

He roared in pain and collapsed to the ground.

"Nico!" Annabeth shouted. Shouting a battle cry, she charged at the beast weaponless and was promptly swatted away like a fly by the Chimera's tail. She flew toward the hole in the wall, but managed to grab onto a metal bar that had been misshapen from the explosion.

The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. Nico could feel the deadly poison racing up to his chest. He could sense his own soul slipping slowly out of his body. His vision flashed and he saw the Underworld for a second: a dark cavern of death. He glanced at the park ranger and the family. The little boy was hiding behind his father's legs. Annabeth's grip was slowly weakening on the metal bar. If she let go, she would fall six hundred feet to her death.

He knew he couldn't disappoint any of these people. He was dying, but he would go down fighting. Hades would have to realize that his time was running out. Bianca would be killed soon if the bolt wasn't returned.

Nico tightened his grip on Skiaspathi and charged. This time he was ready when the serpent tail whipped around. To the amazement of Echidna, he sliced the tail off of the Chimera, making the surprised beast howl in pain. A column of fire exploded out of its mouth, and the ceiling exploded.

Without any care for his own safety, Nico leaped onto the Chimera's back and stabbed the beast repeatedly through its back and head as if he were brutally butchering meat. Eventually, he found himself in a pile of golden dust.

Picking up Annabeth's dagger, that had appeared when the Chimera turned to dust, he whirled around to Echidna. His whole body felt like it was on fire, and his head felt dizzy. His heart pounded in his chest and despite overcoming the most difficult part of the fight, he felt the most frightened at this part.

"Nico!" Annabeth was slipping. Only one hand held her up now.

He realized that he was right in the middle. He could either go and try to save Annabeth from dying or kill Echidna out of anger from Bianca's kidnapping. But his mind wouldn't work properly. His breath was slowing down, and his thoughts became more and more jumbled.

Echidna seemed to notice this. "Pick your poison, Nico di Angelo. Die and take both of us with you, or die and let both of us live?"

"Nico!" Desperation was clearly evident in Annabeth's voice.

"Does the daughter of Athena really deserve to live?" Echidna said. "She's hated you from the very start. She knew she couldn't trust you. She's only doing this to escape from that wretched camp for demigods."

"Nico!"

He made his decision too late. Annabeth lost her grip and fell, screaming. Nico sneered at Echidna and said, "You'll pay for this."

And like a crazy lunatic, he leaped out of the Gateway Arch after Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" Nico's breath was getting shorter and shorter. "Annabeth!"

"Nico?!" she shouted back looking up. "Are you crazy? Why did you leap _out_ after me? You are such an idiot!"

He reached out and grabbed her hand, and she immediately shut up. His eyes were getting heavy and he felt like he was on the verge of falling into unconsciousness.

"Nico," Annabeth gasped. "Your heartbeat." When she didn't get any answer, she looked back up and shouted, "Nico!"

"Feeling... dying..." he whispered.

And the last thing he felt before he fell unconscious was an enormous splash.

* * *

Nico's ears came to before his eyes did.

"He jumped off after me," Annabeth was saying. "He's a lunatic, just like his dad..."

"He could have left you to die on your own," a different voice said. It wasn't Luke, but it sounded like a man. "He probably would have as well."

"You would still be there to save me," argued the daughter of Athena.

Luke's voice finally appeared. "He looked... he looked dead." Nico could almost feel his gaze on him. "Just like Thalia did before she turned into a tree. Annabeth... we shouldn't want revenge just because Hades killed Thalia. Is Zeus killing Nico any better? What have we learned from Percy?"

"I just..." Annabeth's voice broke. It was clear she was fighting against herself as well as the other two. "We're supposed to hate him. We're not supposed to like him."

"Then I should not have been born, am I correct?" said the man. "A descendant of Athena and son of Poseidon. That is a rare combination... the only combination I've seen of such. There are no children of Hades whom are legacies of Demeter or vice versa. Not that I have seen. Those two would never."

It was Percy, Nico realized. The man was Percy. Percy had saved him.

There was a long silence before Nico heard Percy's voice: "Well, I will be off to the washroom. I'll be back soon enough."

There was the sound of someone shuffling out of the seat and their footsteps fading into the background sound of the train chugging.

He felt a hand briefly pat his shoulder, and he realized he was on his side.

"Nico," Annabeth said, "if you can hear me. I'm... I'm glad you jumped off after me. That was incredibly stupid, irresponsible, lunatic and, well, pretty retarded, pardon my French."

Luke snickered in the background.

"But knowing you didn't give up on me and were willing to die from poison _and_ splatting into the water means a lot. I know Luke's grateful. And we've said this so much... but please don't take it too hard... we hate your father. Luke's right though. We shouldn't judge a person by their heritage and their exterior. It's your actions that count.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

It was on the afternoon of the 18th of June, three days before the Summer Solstice. Percy had disappeared saying that he had "duty calls," but mentioned that Luke and Annabeth knew what to do.

Nico, obviously, had no idea what the demigod was talking about, but hoped Annabeth and Luke truly knew what to do.

The first thing they did was send a call back to Camp Half-Blood. Apparently there was this thing called an Iris-message. Nico's initial reaction was "Cool!" Then he remembered that he wasn't that same hyper kid he was before and toned his energy down.

They wandered through downtown for about half an hour, and Nico realized why this place was called the Mile-High City. The air was thinner up here than it was back in New York. And all around the city the Rocky Mountains loomed, as if trapping them inside of a coffin.

Finally they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. They went to the stall farthest from the street.

"What exactly are we doing?" Nico asked.

"What's Iris the goddess of?" asked Annabeth as Luke pulled seventy-five cents out of his pocket.

"Rainbows."

"Exactly. We have to make a rainbow."

"Iris-messaging is talking into a rainbow." Nico felt like laughing. Maybe it was because he was tired. Maybe it was because he was hungry. He wasn't sure. "The most innovative civilization to ever roam the Earth."

Thunder rumbled in the sky.

"Be careful what you say," Luke warned. He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. Pointing the nozzle in the air, water hissed out in a thick white mist. The late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors.

Annabeth raised a golden drachma over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."

She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer.

"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then Nico was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. Standing with his back to them at the railing of what seemed to be the porch of the Big House was a dark-haired guy in dark jeans and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"Ethan!" Nico called.

He turned, eyes wide.

"Nico!" Ethan looked as happy as he could look with an eye patch across his eye. "Luke! Annabeth! Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," Luke replied with a small grin. Nico had learned that the two of them were quite close as friends. "But we were kind of...well... Where's Chiron?"

"He's down at the cabins." Ethan's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Going down to your father to take the bolt back?"

"Yeah," Nico said. "It's cool. But what kind of issues?"

Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement.

"Chiron had to—what's that noise?" Ethan yelled.

"I'll take care of it," Nico yelled back. Something about Ethan's mood seemed... false. Something bad was going to happen soon. A death.

Getting up, he walked over to the stall on the other side where a young man was happily getting out of his car. A girl sat in the passenger's seat. Nico figured she was his girlfriend. The man noticed him and paused for a second.

Angrily, Nico shouted, "Hey, turn your music down!"

"What?" the man shouted back. "I can't hear you!"

Nico stepped up to him and grabbed him by his collar. The man's eyes widened in fear, and his girlfriend backed up as far as she could inside of the car. It was only later that he realized the lights had flickered off in the stall.

"I said 'Turn your music down!'" Nico growled.

"Kirstie!" the man said in fear. "Turn off the music."

The music stopped completely. All returned to silence, and the lights flickered back on. It was in the moment that the man seemed to realized that Nico was just a twelve-year-old boy. His face morphed from one of fear to one of anger.

"Hey, you're just a kid," the man said. "You can't tell me what to do. Kirstie!"

The music pumped up once again, and Nico's eardrums nearly burst. He grabbed his ears, which were ringing, and screamed in pain. A giant black rock rose from the ground in the stall behind where Annabeth and Luke were, and there was the sound of an explosion.

The man looked at Nico in fear. "You're... you're a demon! Let's go, Kirstie!"

The music stopped once again, the man slammed his door, and the Lincoln peeled out of the car wash.

But Nico didn't react. He felt it just as the explosion happened. A daughter of Demeter had just died... at Camp Half-Blood. The ringing in his ears got worse. Stunned, a rounded the corner to see equally stunned demigods.

Annabeth and Luke both turned to him, fear mounting in their eyes. Nico had a feeling that the daughter of Demeter had died because of his sake. The issue Chiron had been dealing with... had it been arguing between campers about whether or not Nico was the Lightning Thief?

"Come on," he said, his stomach feeling as empty as Zeus' cabin. "Come on, let's find some dinner."

* * *

Percy watched as the Titan paced around.

"What a miracle, Percy Jackson, that you seem to have fallen into our grasp once again," the Titan said evilly. "It seems as though you _want_ to find us. The next thing you know you'll be falling into Tartarus. Of course, being who you are, you could easily swim back up to the Underworld up one of the five rivers... Tartarus wouldn't dare stop you. You would find a way to kill yourself before Gaea can get her hands on you. You can seem to escape anything. But you understand you are nothing but a puny mortal. You hold no power."

"As knowledgeable as ever, Koios," he growled. "It is a mistake of all of you to attempt to come to me for help. That way, you allow me to see who you are and how you fight."

"Everything comes with a risk, Perseus," the Titan said. "Though the risk is dependent on the problem."

"I shouldn't have lasted this long," the immortal demigod admitted. "At least this way I will be able to help the gods win this war. You'll never strip them of their power. Expect the unexpected."

"I, for one, will not be participating in this war," Koios said grinning cruelly. "I prepare for the battle that cannot be won."

Percy hesitated for a second. "You don't mean..."

"Oh, yes," the Titan roared in laughter. "Kronos will fail. I know enough to foresee that. Soon after, Mother Earth will rise once again. Everything will repeat itself. This time without the two heroes that would become gods: Hercules and Dionysus. But don't get too cocky because you never know; Kronos could win."

"Don't underestimate demigods," Percy warned. "They may not have the fighting strength that the gods do, but they are a lot more powerful than you would think. You watch and see: the demigods will never break."

"Not until the Romans come."

Percy sneered and shot five arrows into Koios' chest in the blink of an eye. "We will find a way. Watch. And. See."

Then he took Anaklusmos out and drove it into the Titan's chest.


	10. Los Ciudades con Nombres Español

**Another chapter! The Lightning Thief part is coming to a close soon. You finally get to see the prophecy, there's Procrustes, Las Vegas, a Nereid, and mentions of Percy. Don't worry. The next chapter... you'll see him. Anyway, I'm probably not going to update for a week or so. I'm on sort of a break right now, and I'll be going back to learning next week. Also, I'm getting my wisdom teeth yanked, and I think that I'd rather rest than try to write with an aching mouth.**

**Also, vote on my poll! I want to see what story of mine you guys like best! If you are a guest, send me a review! I just want to know which stories you guys enjoyed the most. So, I thank you all.**

**Sharky**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

"I hate Las Vegas," Nico grumbled.

He, Annabeth and Luke had just had a bitter encounter with Ares back in Denver. After the three of them had contacted camp, they had gone to a diner. While there, Annabeth and Luke informed Nico of someone firing an explosive arrow, a child of Apollo, that had killed a daughter of Demeter. It was just as he feared.

What more could he do to kill people? He seemed to cause misfortune all around him. Hades clearly wasn't accepted on the Olympian council. Why would he be accepted at Camp Half-Blood? Everyone hated Hades anyway. He was the one that kidnapped Persephone. He did all the bad things. Their kids were supposed to be bad as well, right?

Then, of course, Ares sent them on a little mission to fetch his shield from an abandoned water park. It turned out that the ride that Ares had gone on with his girlfriend, Aphrodite, was a trap constructed by Hephaestus specifically to catch them. A golden net had sprung over the three demigods, and to their embarrassment, the entire clip of footage was caught on Hephaestus TV.

Annabeth had been screaming her head off when the little mechanical spiders came. She clung onto Luke like her life depended on it, and after they got surrounded, Nico told Luke to carry Annabeth to the far side. He would distract the spiders by getting closer to the Tunnel of Love entrance.

He was swarmed by them, and eventually they completely covered his body except for his head. He swatted them away with his sword and shield hand, but whenever he tried to get rid of them, more took their place.

For a moment, he'd caught Annabeth's and Luke's glances, and he'd imagined what their expressions were when Thalia was surrounded by monsters.

Miraculously, Hephaestus came to their rescue, though he didn't seem so happy about it. Suddenly, the weather turned really sour, and Nico guessed that Zeus was unhappy that he wasn't dead. Big surprise.

Then, when they got back to the diner, Ares revealed to him that he should have died back in St. Louis. Nico nearly threw down the gloves with him, but the war god just told him that he was lucky Percy basically caught him and Annabeth with the water. The enormous splash was apparently a giant roar of water coming at him to cushion his fall.

The war god also told him that Bianca was trapped into a magical cage that shrunk the longer time passed. She would suffocate or be crushed by the summer solstice. His time was ticking, and they only had half a day remaining. There were some... complications with the ride to Las Vegas.

Let's just say that it involved a fourteen-year-old boy driving, two overweight men unconscious in the back with a tiger, a zebra and an antelope.

Hopefully the men forgot about them otherwise they'd be in quite the trouble. At the moment, they were strolling down the Strip. People were smoking everywhere and there were cards of girls in lingerie strewn across the sidewalks. It was exactly the same as it was when he'd left.

"I don't hate Vegas but I've had better experiences," Luke said wincing.

A giant screen near Caesar's Palace flashed about some striptease show.

"Yeah," Annabeth muttered. "Best place to take a family with young kids."

"Technically we're young kids," Nico said back.

"You know what I mean."

They winded down the streets, bobbing and weaving through the massive crowds that clogged the streets. They saw a passing truck with pictures of guns on them along with an address and the big letters COME TO THE SHOOTING RANGE. There was also a phone number.

"You know what would be cool?" said Nico, an idea forming in his head. "If we designed Celestial bronze bullets. Maybe not for mass production, but maybe to kill enemy demigods or something. It would be more effective. The ones who can't sword fight can shoot the enemies."

"That would be an... interesting project to try." Annabeth gave him an impressed look.

Her gaze wasn't uncertain like it had been for the past week. It had become more assertive and strong. In a good way, of course. Even if everyone else hated Hades and his children, Nico knew that he'd found two good friends in Luke and Annabeth, even if they didn't show it. It was more of a feeling; a second sense that they could share.

He would never replace Thalia, but at least he could be a temp.

It was then that they stumbled upon the Lotus Hotel. Luke and Nico looked up at the tall building and shuddered. Having been naïve and impressionable, Nico had no idea what had happened when he was younger. He just played all of the games inside and had fun. He had no care for the world around him; his focus was having fun. Bianca had always seemed so paranoid to him. Now he realized she had good reason.

Outside of the doors of the Lotus Hotel was a world completely opposite of what was within. Within was an isolated Elysium. Outside was a Tartarus compared to what was inside. At least while you were inside the Lotus Hotel, you felt no connection to time.

The day was stormy, and flashes of red lightning flickered across the sky. They had precious little time. They had to get to the Underworld somehow within a day before heading straight back to New York and to Olympus on top of the Empire State Building.

No problem.

"We have to go to Santa Monica Beach," Annabeth said suddenly, and Nico turned to her.

"What?"

"That's our next stop, remember Luke?"

The son of Hermes nodded robotically, still gazing up at the hotel. He glanced in the front doors, which were open showcasing all of the games and food inside. For a moment, Nico was tempted, but he forced himself to pay attention to Annabeth.

"What are you talking about? Why is it that you know something that I don't?"

"First of all, I'm a daughter of Athena," she said. "Second of all, you were almost dead when I learned that we needed to go there."

Nico's mind rewinded. "St. Louis... Percy!"

Annabeth nodded. "He told me there was something he stole from his father that he'd lost in the Pacific Ocean one day. He said that there would be a nymph waiting at Santa Monica Beach in case he couldn't make it."

The more Nico thought about Percy Jackson, the less and less trustful the immortal demigod seemed. Nico trusted him completely at the beginning of the quest and believed what he thought would benefit everyone, but he kept leaving. Where was he? Why couldn't he help? Could they really trust Percy?

"Annabeth?" He pressed his lips together. "You know Percy more than I do... Can we trust him?"

She looked at him in disbelief. "What kind of question is that? Of course we can."

"Then why isn't he here on the quest with us?"

"He never told you about his curse?"

"Curse?"

Annabeth turned to him, and her grey eyes bore into him. "A long time ago, Percy sacrificed his glory to the gods. Unfortunately at the time the gods took that literally. Percy has been completely erased from history wherever he's gone or has been called by a pseudonym. He was Homer... but no demigod alive has been able to reveal that to the mortal world. A part of that curse meant that if he tried to do too much, everything would go wrong and what he was trying to change would destroy those closest to him. It's his fatal flaw."

"What does that have to do with sacrificing glory?"

"What are the _two_ definitions of glory?"

Nico furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "There are _two_ definitions of glory?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. One means high honor for a notable achievement. Two means in magnificence or great beauty. Like the phrase 'Restored to its former glory.' He sacrificed his magnificence and great beauty in doing things just right. During the Trojan War... he told us he slaughtered half of the Greek army during Troy's final days, and he killed thousands of Trojans. The damage he caused was shattering. When fighting with the Macedonians against the Romans, he did too little, wary that he would completely annihilate everyone again, and the Romans won. If he tried to fight our battles for us... he could end up destroying us with the enemies... or he could let us die in our weakest situations."

"He's..." Nico trailed off, unsure of how to describe what he was thinking.

Annabeth seemed to read his mind. "The most powerful son of Poseidon to ever live. He's like the most dangerous parts of the ocean. Not the mood, like helpful and kind against destructive and pirate-like. He can destroy too much... or he can destroy too little."

"But we trust him."

"We do."

Nico stared into Annabeth's eyes. "Not because he threatens us. Because he's not just the most dangerous parts. He's all of the parts."

"Everything," Annabeth agreed. "All of it."

"Florida."

"What?"

"I hope he's feeling Florida right now."

"That's a terrible symbol." She still smiled at that. "Florida's prone to hurricanes."

"Fine then. I hope he's feeling Santa Monica."

Her smile faded. "That's our problem right now, though. How do we get to Santa Monica?"

"Nico?" Luke asked, and Nico jumped forgetting he'd been there the entire time. "Do you still have your LotusCash card?"

Nico's pocket suddenly felt heavier. He reached into it and pulled out a plastic green credit card. "Here it is. Why?"

"I know how we can get there. To Santa Monica."

Luke snatched it out of his hand and immediately ran to the edge of the street.

"Whoa! What are you doing?"

"Taxi!" Luke yelled. "Taxi!"

A yellow cab pulled up to where Luke was. He motioned for Annabeth and Nico to come, but Nico was hesitant. The LotusCash card was created by Greek monsters. Would it work to pay for a cab that would take them all the way to Los Angeles?

"Come on," Annabeth said, and he knew he had no choice.

They piled into the cab, Annabeth in the center, and the boys on either side of her. Luke then said, "Los Angeles, please."

The cabbie chewed his cigar and gave us a skeptical look. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."

Luke gave him the LotusCash card, to which the cabbie gave another dubious look.

"Swipe it," Luke invited.

He did.

The meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.

The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at the trio, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles... uh, Your Highness?"

"The Santa Monica Pier." Luke relaxed back in his seat, clearly satisfied his plan had worked. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."

The cab's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the Mojave Desert.

Still, three hundred miles is a long way, and Nico found it the perfect opportunity to tell them about all of the doubts that he'd been feeling. Especially since they'd met Ares.

"Luke, do you still have the backpack that Ares gave you?" he asked.

The son of Hermes nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Can I take a look inside?"

"Sure."

Luke handed him the backpack, and Nico peered in. It was just full of clothing and drachmas. He even checked under the clothing. Something about his instincts told him that Ares meant to give them much more than a small quest to retrieve his shield. Why did he have such good instincts all of a sudden?

In that moment, he realized at Westover Hall, the old school he'd gone to, there was a monster there. He'd always had a bad feeling about the principal of the school but had put those feelings aside to enjoy his time at school.

It almost seemed as though he'd been trained before. Before he'd been "rescued" by Percy Jackson.

The words of the prophecy he'd heard back in the attic of the Big House came back to him. It felt like he'd heard it ages ago.

_You shall go west, and face the god who has turned,_

_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,_

_You shall be betrayed by one you least expect,_

_And you shall lose the one whose duty is to protect._

At first, Nico had thought that Bianca would be killed in the end, but the second part of that line threw him off. "Is to protect" could have quite a few meanings. The first one that popped to his mind was that whatever was lost... it was someone that was supposed to protect him.

He never told the other two the prophecy. He didn't want to make them stress over it more.

"Nico, what are you thinking?" Annabeth asked.

Her breath smelled like the lack of hygiene.

"Nothing."

"You know..." Luke trailed off. Turning to Nico, he said, "We never heard the prophecy that you got in the attic. It's supposed to be the thing that's guiding us."

Annabeth looked completely shocked. It seemed as though she just realized she'd never heard the prophecy. So, Nico recited it to them, word for word.

"_Whose duty is to protect_?" Her face was as white as a ghost's.

"What?"

"Nothing," she replied. Her voice sounded brittle. "This is your prophecy. This isn't referring to anyone special to us."

"It can't be him, Annabeth," Luke said. "Nico's never even met him. Nico doesn't even know who he is."

"Who are you talking about?" Nico demanded, curious and frustrated.

The two of them shared a look before Luke shared the story.

"There was this satyr named Grover Underwood," he said. "He was ordered to protect Thalia and get her to Camp Half-Blood safely no matter what. Grover disobeyed his orders when Annabeth and I got trapped. He and Thalia could have run, but the brave satyr helped Thalia rescue us. He was a good protector. He was just... just a little antsy, and Thalia got killed.

"Because of Grover?"

"No!" Luke immediately exclaimed. "We can't blame Grover... it's just that we haven't heard from him since he went off to go look for Pan. That was four years ago for Annabeth. Two years for me. If Percy had never brought me to the Lotus Hotel, I'd be sixteen right now."

"You and Thalia were both twelve."

He nodded. "And Annabeth was eight."

"I'm worried about him," Annabeth admitted.

"But he can't be a part of this prophecy," Luke assured. "This is Nico's. It has be someone connected to..." Luke seemed to realize a possibility, a possibility Nico already knew. "Bianca."

Nico nodded grimly. "I think it means that she's going to die before we can get to her. She protected me when we were younger. I feel like she's the only person who's really understood who I am and kept me from any real harm."

"Or it could mean one of us," Annabeth said. Her eyes were suddenly stony. She turned to Luke. "Remember what Percy told us? Our purpose on the quest is to aid and protect Nico. Maybe one of us will die to help get the Master Bolt returned."

The three of them suddenly got solemn.

The cab sped west. Every gust of wind through Death Valley sounded like a spirit of the dead. Every time the brakes hissed on an eighteen-wheeler, it reminded Nico of Echidna's reptilian voice.

_Mi figlio_, a female voice whispered into his ear.

And for some reason, he cried. He knew that it was his mother. He had no idea who she was. He had no idea if she was dead or alive (he expected dead from what the lawyer had said), but he knew that it was his mother. Ever since he'd been taken into the Greek world, his family had been torn further and further away from him.

His father was a god, one of the Big Three; his sister had been captured by his uncle, the King of the Gods; and his mother was now just a large question mark.

He was grateful that Luke and Annabeth left him alone to mope in his own deterioration.

At sunset, the taxi dropped them at the beach in Santa Monica.

There were carnival rides lining the Pier, palm trees along the sidewalks, homeless guys sleeping in the sand dunes, and surfers waiting for the perfect wave. At the legs of the Pier stood a beautiful young woman in a sleeveless green silk dress. Her eyes reflected the glittering Pacific Ocean as she stared out at it.

"A Nereid nymph," Nico said.

"That's who we're looking for," Annabeth said with a heaving sigh. "Come on. Let's go."

As they walked down toward the Nereid, Nico looked out at the open sea. The Pacific was turning gold in the setting sun. The water looked so beautiful that it was hard to believe that the god of the seas was at Olympus craving different ways to torture his sister.

"Two-thirds of the earth's surface is covered in water," Annabeth said, noticing where he was looking. "It's not hard to see why Percy is the way he is."

When they were within ten feet of the Nereid, she turned to look at them. Nico remember that although she looked young, she wasn't _that_ young. Hades, she was older than Percy... and he was _old_.

"So this is the son of Hades that is of the Great Prophecy," she said. Her voice was elegant, as if her voice were made of silk. "The Lord of the Sea wishes for the best."

"I thought Poseidon hated me," Nico said furrowing his eyebrows. "He's on Olympus thinking of ways to torture my sister!"

"And do you know this certainly?"

"Well... no."

The Nereid gave him a smile. "The Lord of the Sea does not hate you or your sister. Does he mistrust you two? Perhaps. Is he angered that Hades brought his children back? Certainly, Nicolas di Angelo. Children of Hades have always been powerful. Why do you think that World War II was almost won by the Axis party? Lord Poseidon fears you."

"Fears me?" Nico's voice sounded like a squeak.

"Hades may feel powerless down in the Underworld, but his children have always appeared as underdogs. The American Civil War was won by a child of Hades. Not a son of Zeus like you would expect."

"Percy said that you were going to help us," Annabeth said, interrupting the conversation. Her eyes reminded him that they were on a tight schedule.

"Ah yes," the Nereid said. "Perseus."

Nico filed that into his brain. That was a new fact for him.

"You journey to Hades' realm," she said. "Few mortals have ever done this and survived: Orpheus, who had great music skill; Hercules, who had great strength; Houdini, who could escape even the depths of Tartarus. Not even your half-siblings dared enter your father's kingdom. Theseus passed through Hades' realm once and nearly died."

"Wait, Houdini could escape from Tartarus?" exclaimed Luke. "Wasn't he, like, a—"

"Son of Hermes, yes. Much like yourself, Lucas Castellan. He only attempted twice, and despite what they say about a ruptured appendix, it was his return from Tartarus the second time that killed him. No other demigod has been to Tartarus more than once. And only one has survived."

"Percy," Nico guessed.

She nodded. "You have a hard task ahead of yourself, Nico." She held out her hand where three white pearls lay. "These are but a set of one that you will need to use. Your father is a harsh but just ruler."

Nico swallowed. He wasn't anticipating his meeting with his father any more than he was anticipating arriving at the court of Zeus and the rest of the Olympians. They were probably more distrustful of him than any.

"Despite these gifts from Perseus..." The Nereid looked morosely at the pearls. "No gift comes without a price. Not pearls, not weapons, not things even such as socks. Beware what you have taken."

Before they could ask her anything, she snapped her fingers and disappeared with an ocean breeze.

"Beware what we've taken?"

Annabeth and Luke immediately looked to the pearls, but Nico had a hunch she meant something else.

"We have to trust Percy, though," Luke said. "If we don't... it may mean our end. He's been truthful to us."

Then three of them began their trip to DOA Recording Studios.

They first asked the taxi driver, but he said he'd never heard of the place. Like always, the names of places that "existed" seemed to fade into the background of mortals' minds. Frustratingly, he led the other two in what seemed like circles.

It got dark, and hungry-looking characters started coming out on the streets to play. Nico felt like the darkness was supposed to be his strength, but it was playing as his enemy at the moment. The darkness led him in the wrong direction, and the other two were complaining about him not knowing where he was going.

L.A. was spread out, chaotic, hard to move around. Why couldn't the location just be up at the Hollywood sign. That would be so much easier than to find DOA Recording Studios in the entirety of West Hollywood. Even all of the gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers looked the same as they made their way through the city.

As they hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, "Hey, you."

Like an idiot, Nico stopped.

Before he knew what was happening, the three of them were surrounded. A gang of kids had circled us. Six of them in all—white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces.

Luke held an arm out. Nico remembered that he and Thalia had been on the run before and that he'd probably dealt with multiple gangs in the past. But immediately, the situation turned sour.

The leader of the group lunged forward with a switchblade and stabbed Luke in his hand. Luke wasn't expecting it and didn't have any time to react. Nico reacted quickly, elbowed the leader before doing a spinning kick and knocking the leader out cold. He didn't have any time to wonder where he learned to do that.

"Run!" he shouted at Luke and Annabeth.

They pushed through the ring of kids and raced down the street, not knowing where they were going. After was seemed like forever, they saw a place with a neon sign.

"In there?" Nico suggested.

"The last time we went in a place with neon signs it was Medusa's lair," Annabeth called back.

"Well, we don't have a choice, do we?" Luke asked.

"No! We don't!"

They burst through the doors, ran behind a water bed, and ducked. A split second later, the gang kids ran past outside.

"I think we lost them," Annabeth panted.

A voice behind them boomed, "Lost who?"

Annabeth and Luke jumped. Nico peered over from the water bed across from them.

Standing behind the two was a seven-foot-tall troll from the seventies. Nico had no idea where that thought came from. But literally. The guy had skin like a reptile's... and well... if this was Crusty, his parents chose a really well-fitting name.

He moved toward them slowly, but Nico could tell this man was quicker than he seemed.

"I'm Crusty," he said, with a tartar-yellow smile.

"Sorry to barge in," Luke told him uncomfortably. "We were just, um, browsing."

"You mean hiding from those no-good kids," he grumbled. "They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed?"

Before any one of them could react, he put a hand on Luke's shoulder and steered him deeper into the showroom.

THere was every kind of water bed you could imagine: different kinds of wood, different patterns of sheets; queen-size, king-size, emperor-of-the-universe size."

"This is my most popular model." Crusty spread his hands proudly over a bed covered with black satin sheets, with built-in Lava Lamps on the headboard. The mattress vibrated, so it looked like Jell-O.

"Million-hand massage," Crusty told us. "Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business today, any-way."

"Um," Luke hesitated, "I don't think..."

"Come on! Just try it out?"

Luke frowned but agreed. He laid on the bed uncertainly, and before long, the massage got to him and he relaxed in the bed. "O-oh m-my go-o-ds, A-anna-b-be-eth! Thi-i-s fe-els gr-reat."

"Doesn't it?" Crusty said. Then he turned to Annabeth.

He patted her reassuringly on the shoulder and led her over to the Safari Deluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the fram and a leopard-patterned comforter.

"Try it!"

"I don't want to," she protested.

Nico snuck around to the nearest sales desk and made eye contact with her. Just as he did, Crusty pushed her onto the bed, snapped his fingers, and said, "_Ergo!_"

Ropes sprang from the sides of the bed, lashing around Annabeth, holding her to the mattress. Luke tried to get up, but ropes sprang from his black-satin bed, too, and lashed him down.

"_Ergo!_" Crusty said once again, and the myth came to Nico's mind.

He wasn't named Crusty. His name was Procrustes. The Stretcher. He'd tried to kill Theseus with excess hospitality on his way to Athens. Then, something caught his eye. Leaning against the back of the desk was a giant double-bladed brass axe.

Ropes sprang from the head and the feet of both beds, latched onto Luke and Annabeth, and began pulling, stretching them out.

"Consider this a favor," Procrustes said. "You won't live to see the day when the Olympians destroy Western Civilization. Mark my words. It will happen in the future."

Nico crept out from behind the desk, holding the axe in both his hands. He was surprised to feel that it wasn't too heavy for him. Annabeth and Luke both saw him.

Struggling and groaning, they both yelled at Procrustes. They jeered him with insults, taking turns so that each of them could spend part of the time making gurgling sounds and the other part turning paler.

Then Nico found himself right behind the giant, and the axe came hurtling across the giant's knees. Procrustes fell in shock and surprise. Nico stepped on his chest, and raising the axe above his head, he said, "Head's up!"

Dropping the axe, Nico pulled out Skiaspathi. He cut the ropes on the beds. Annabeth and Luke got to their feet, groaning and wincing.

"You guys look taller," Nico said.

"Because we were almost stretched to death," Luke snapped back. "Why couldn't you have been quicker?"

Nico ignored him and looked at the bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, and another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters—"The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!" Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commission for heroes' souls. "We are always looking for new talent!" DOA's address was right underneath with a map.

"Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that we came here," he muttered.

"Yes, we couldn't possibily have come closer to death," Annabeth retorted sarcastically.

"Actually... we can," Nico said. "The Underworld's only a block from here."

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember to tell me if you like it or not.**

**Thanks a bunch,  
SharkAttack719**


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